Not all heroes are born good
by Excalipur
Summary: A monster has to decide whether it's best to live alone without fear of hurting others or risk everything for a glimmer of hope and happiness. A girl has to cope with a terrible loss as she explores the world of her dreams. A man has to deal with his and others' demons. Friendships will be forged. Barriers will be broken. Personalities will shift. Everyone will change. You as well.
1. Fallen down

_I was finishing my daily chores in the Ruins: watering the flowers, tidying the rooms...my usual daily routine; there were not many distractions back then, or occasions to entertain myself for that matter, so everything engaged me even if just a little bit._

 _I did not have anyone to talk to: all the other monsters were too scared of me to even get close to me, but I did not want to make conversation anyway. Who knows what might have happened: I just needed the littlest reason to be angry and I would have made hell come to Earth._

 _But I am getting off-track: as I was saying, I was completing my daily routine; I had watered all the plants, except the ones in the last room. The golden flowers, the ones that grew thanks to the sunlight beams that miraculously arrived to that room._

 _I always wondered if my life would have ever changed, ever since arriving to the Ruins._

 _I always wondered if I even wanted it to change._

 _But that day I learned that change arrives even if you are not ready for it._

* * *

I knew something was off ever since I entered the room: usually it was quiet, not a sound to be heard, but that day I heard...crying, like a child crying for his mother to help him; it seemed to be coming right from around the corner.

I stepped forward, slowly. I remember my emotions vividly: surprise, curiosity, expectation...fear. While I was walking, I looked nervously at the bedrock walls: that day some water was dripping from the ceiling and crawling down the walls, giving the place a much scarier and sinister look. The floor absorbed the drops of water as soon as it touched them. I wondered if up on the Surface was raining: I remembered Them telling me that sometimes, in their world, water would drip from the sky and arrive to the ground...I still could not figure out how could water arrive from a ceiling that did not exist.

But it was not the right time and place to be distracted by those memories, so I focused on the present and prepared myself for whatever was in that room.

When I turned the corner, I saw _it_.

There was a kid, a _human_ kid, sitting in a patch of golden buttercups, crying: the human was sobbing loudly, but it had yet to notice me.

My sins started crawling on my back: I stood there, evaluating my options. Maybe it would have been best to get away as fast as possible: I knew what could have happened if I did not, what could have happened if I got closer to the human.

As I was thinking, the crying stopped...well, almost, I could still hear some sobs from the human's direction.

I looked at the human, and...she looked at me.

I could see she was a girl, she had short brown hair enveloped in a...what do you call it again...oh, yes, a bowl haircut, and she had big brown teary eyes. She was wearing a purple-striped blue sweater, blue trousers and brown boots. I expected for her to look at me in fear but instead she looked surprised at first, then even sadder than before.

Suddenly, she exclaimed "Wow, a giant goat. Yup, I really am dead." she then stared at the golden flowers, completely disregarding my presence. I could have left her there, but something told me that I could not leave her like that, that I should have done something to make her...happier.

"I am afraid to say that you are not dead, human."

I did not know what was giving me the strength to even talk, but...that human...she looked sad, and I could not tolerate it: I said that phrase perfectly knowing that would've started a conversation. God, I hated conversations back then.

The human stopped looking at the flowers and started paying attention to me "What do you mean I'm not dead? I'm talking to a giant freaking goat right now: if I'm not in Heaven, then I've become crazy!" she ended the phrase with a small, nervous giggle.

"You are not in Heaven, human: you are in the Underground, home of the monsters. To be precise, you are in the Ruins right now..." I realized it right when I ended my sentence "Wait, did you just say I look like a...goat?"

"What, you're not a goat?" she replied, puzzled.

I did not know if to be more stunned by that human's boldness or angered that she had me confused me for a...goat? What were goats anyway? "I am not a "goat", human: I am a monster, and you should not be here, in the Underground."

The human stayed quiet for a while, until she said, with a cold tone "If I'm not in Heaven, then this is _precisely_ where I shouldn't be right now."

That sentence, it hit me in the heart. What did she mean by that?

I had not enough time to reflect on that, as she immediately jumped to her feet and asked "You said you were...a monster, right? What's your name?"

I suddenly fell silent.

My thoughts were destroying my brain; I could hear them scramble my head: *I should run away* *I should tell her my name* *I should help her* * _ **we should kill her right now**_ _*_

That last thought...it was _t_ _heir_ idea, I knew it. If I could not control my own thoughts, then soon I would have been unable to control my own body as well. I had to get rid of my indecision fast.

I picked the first option that popped in my mind: "My name is Asriel Dreemurr. May I ask what is yours?"

I felt so stupid back then: I was breaking all the rules I imposed on myself in the past, like "Never interact with anyone" "Never let anyone know about you" "Never give Them a reason to take over you". I was breaking all the walls I erected around me to _protect_ others from me, and it felt...good.

Like butterflies in my stomach finally exiting from my mouth.

The human approached me quietly and slowly, while I was thinking: I realized that because now I could feel her scent; she smelled of something sweet and fresh. I was not exactly sure what it was, maybe some flavor that only humans used, but it was very pleasant.

She then introduced herself "My name is Frisk."

Despite having learned her name, I kept referring to her as the "human": "Human...do you know

you made a big mistake falling down here?" I asked her.

"No, I didn't" she replied clearly.

Was this kid retarded or what?

"Listen kid, you should not be here...it is dangerous down here, you should be up there" I pointed at the hole in the ceiling, "With the other humans"

"No, I shouldn't." she once again replied.

This kid was getting on my nerves: even if she looked really young for a human, or so I thought, she should have understood by now that she was not safe, down here. Especially with me: I was not an expert on humans but, if I were a human and I had found a giant furry monster with horns, black eyes with red pupils, black tattoos underneath them and a huge mouth with fangs, I would've run away at the speed of light.

"Wait a moment...are you not...afraid?" I inquired.

"Of what?"

"Of me, of course!" what else could she be afraid of?

"Why should I?" she answered my question with another question.

"B-Because I am a monster! Humans are afraid of monsters, you have always been!"

"I don't see the reason why I should be afraid of you..."

I was now sure: that human was an idiot. If there was a meter for dumbness, she would have broke it. But there again, she did not look dumb: she REALLY was convinced of what she said.

The thought that I might have been dangerous did not even hit her.

I was still arguing in my head about her last sentence, when she asked "...Do I look scary perhaps? Are you scared of me?"

If I was confused before, now I was stunned "N-No...what is this question supposed to-"

"Then I shouldn't be afraid of you either." she simply continued.

Her motivations made perfect sense, in a childish and illogical way but they did, and I could not accept it: this girl was toying with fire and was really close to getting burned.

I was in a desperate need for words: something, ANYTHING, that would have made this human get away from me. I started panicking, but then I noticed she had ventured closer to the door that led to the rest to the Ruins. She stopped and asked "What is beyond that door?"

That was my opportunity.

"That door leads to the rest of the Ruins...and closer to the exit from the Underground. You need to continue through it to reach it."

"What, you're not coming?"

My head started spinning "W-Why should I come with you?"

"You said that the Underground was dangerous, right? So, don't you want to...protect me, or something?" she looked confused.

"I am protecting you!" I furiously replied.

"How can you be protecting me without standing by my side?"

"I am protecting you by not coming with you! Why can't you understand? I am the only one dangerous here!" I did not know why I spilled the truth at...Frisk, then. But it felt good, to finally express my rage at that kid, who just mocked me for what felt like the longest minute in my entire life.

Frisk, on the other end, became even more confused "You don't seem dangerous at all..."

"But I am!" I desperately tried to make her understand.

"...You shouldn't be underestimating yourself like that. Do you want to be "dangerous"?"

"N-No I do not! But..."

"Then you can't be something that you don't want to be." once again, her logic made perfect sense...in it's own way.

"It is not that simple...Frisk."

"I think it is. When I look at you, I don't see an evil person. So, you can't be evil."

That sentence...it was so stupid...but it had an incontestable logic.

That sentence...she really did not believe I was a dangerous or evil person.

That sentence...it made my worries, my problems, my fears...disappear.

That sentence...

It filled me with _determination_.

Maybe, it was that sentence that made me say what I did: before, it was just the last option I would ever pick, like an idea destined to be scrapped and forever forgotten; now it was clear, that was the only thing I had to do.

"You know what? You are right, I should come with you. But do not blame me if anything goes wrong..."

"YES! Thankyouthankyouthankyou..." she ran next to me and started jumping and squealing like a little baby who has just been given a treat.

"Okay, that is enough. Do not make me regret my promise..."

So I opened the giant door for the little human, and new thoughts started orbiting my brain *Maybe I did the right thing.* *Maybe this will be worth it.* * _ **Maybe you just dug her own grave.**_ _*_

I shrugged that last sentence off: I would not have let Them hurt the human.

I would have _never_ let Them hurt Frisk.

Even if we just met, I could already feel something growing between us two, something that gave me...confidence. Something that made Them powerless, like They never existed at all, it felt like it was just me and Frisk in that cave.

The next room was just a green patch of dirt, illuminated by some light crystals that hung from the ceiling; the walls were made of the same bedrock that enclosed the other room, but no water was dripping on them: maybe the raining had stopped? For some reasons I never fully understood, no matter how hard I tried, I could never make anything grow on that patch of dirt. It was like it rejected every plant I tried to raise.

Frisk did not pay attention to the plot of dirt and hurried to the next door. She was so eager to explore the unknown...I recalled faint memories of my childhood: when was the last time I had been so curious?

Oh, right, it was when I was a kid and I kept on dreaming what would the world of the humans...the Surface, look like. Remembering the old times, when I was still childish, curious and brave made other memories resurface.

Memories of Them, from when he was still alive...still with me, being my best friend and my...I suddenly hit something hard with my head and fell to the ground. Mom always told me that thinking while walking is not a good idea. When I opened my eyes some seconds late I found out that the human was staring at me.

"Are you alright?" she asked, a bit preoccupied.

Their expression was so full of compassion it made me sick.

"Of course I am alright, who do you think I am?" I yelled at them, in an angry tone.

"Um, Asriel...Dreemurr?"

"Lord Asriel Dreemurr."

"Suuuree...Lord Asriel..."

"That is correct, and I do not need your pity! I can care after myself without your help!"

"...You just bumped in that door while looking straight at it though..."

"That does not count! I was...thinking...but that's none of your business!"

I thought I was teaching the human to respect me, but looking back at it I think I was just giving the human another reason to think funny of me.

So I was surprised when she exclaimed "That's okay, I can't really make fun of you for it: it happens to me as well! More often than you may think!"

She started laughing, but it wasn't directed at me. However, just to be sure, I yelled "Stop making fun of me!"

"I'm not making fun of you, I'm making fun of myself! But if you think that I was referring to you, then it's because you know you deserve it!" the kid was smart, too smart for my liking.

"T-That is incorrect!" I tried to explain myself.

"No it isn't! You should make fun of yourself more often: it helps, I swear!"

"I do not need help, especially if it comes under the guise of self-related jokes!"

"You talk too much Lord Asriel! Come on, you haven't even lifted yourself up!"

Too much smart...and I was so dumb. She tended me her tiny hand; I didn't want to appear any more idiotic, so I grabbed her hand: it felt so soft and fragile.

I wonder what she felt back then when she held my furry paw. I made it look like she was lifting me up, but in fact I was helping myself pushing the ground with my other hand. It was obvious she did not do anything at all, but she looked satisfied anyway.

I was about to open the door to the next room when Frisk grabbed a limb of my purple dress, almost making me trip: thankfully I was near the entrance, so I managed to stop my fall before it even happened.

I looked at Frisk, who almost made fun of me for the second time in 20 seconds. She was looking oddly at my face, as if there was something weird on it

"Hey, can you get kneel down for a second?" she asked as she signed me to get down to her height.

That request was so innocent I couldn't say no to her: I crouched and my face stopped really close to hers...then, in the fraction of a second, she poked at my nose and ran through the door.

Yeah, almost.

I felt my cheeks burning like they were being cooked in my Mom's oven...I felt like an ingredient in one of her pies. I yelled "Do you seriously think you can get away with that? Get back here!"

I started chasing her through the door, forgetting that two minutes prior I had tried to chase her away from me. That human was extremely good at making me forget my worries...and making new ones arise.


	2. The Ruins (part 1)

" _ **Hey, come back here!** "_

" _You'll never take me alive!"_

" _ **That's right: if I ever catch you, you're dead!** "_

 _I could hear their steps behind mine: They were getting closer and closer, and the garden did not have many great hiding spots...besides, They knew them all. They were trained in spooking me when I least expected it, jumping off a tree, coming out of the grass where they had camouflaged themselves..._

 _After scaring me and laughing at my simpleness, they always punished me a little for "not expecting it"...it never hurt too much, but I felt bad because they were not proud of me in the slightest._

 _That's why I had decided to spook them in return this time: to prove I was not the crybaby they always pretended I was._

 _I took the wrong turn, and I met a dead end: my heart beat got even faster while their steps were getting slower. I turned around and saw that creepy smile of theirs, but I was used to it so it didn't scare me anymore._

" _ **You managed to avoid me for far less than I anticipated...**_ _"_

" _C-Chara, please, it was just for fun! You scare me all of the time, I was just avenging myself!" I laughed nervously at the end, but they did not laugh with me._

" _ **Has mom never told you that revenge is bad? Now you're going to pay for your sins...** "_

" _N-No...c-come on, Chara...it was...just for fun..."_

" _ **You don't even have the will to fight back...sorry Asriel, but that's disgusting. If you don't want to get hit, then fight back you idiot! If you won't...then accept it and stop crying!** "_

* * *

While I was chasing Frisk through the room those memories resurfaced: I pondered about what would I have done once I had caught her...Frisk was climbing one of the two marble staircases that brought to the next room, but I was quickly catching up to her. Good thing I trained every day back then...again, there was not a lot to do in the Ruins.

She had reached the top of the stairs when she suddenly stopped and looked backwards: she was looking at the interiors of the wide purple room, her eyes shining with curiosity and admiration; she then looked at her feet, only now noticing the carpet of red leaves that descended through the wall to the ground.

The girl was very excited about the Underground; then again, that carpet was one of my most grand successes: I had become quite good at gardening, even if not as good as my father.

She did not see me coming and when she turned around to keep running away she bumped into me and tripped in my robe. She looked at me the same way I looked at Them that day: she was afraid, but she was also smiling as well for whatever reason.

"H-Hey there! Ah...I think I lost myself looking at the room...could you please..."

"What, pretend to forget what you did earlier? I do not think so human."

She backed off while I approached her slowly and carefully, a malicious grin forming on my face; her expression shifted, now she was really scared. She was making way too many steps backwards so I grabbed her shoulder with my left paw before she could fall through the ledge.

"P-Please, it was only a joke! I-I didn't mean to offend you!" she excused herself.

"Now you are going to pay for your sins..."

* **Now, hit her! Hit her like the defenseless brat she is!** * I heard a cold voice whisper to me.

Their words made me fall from the clouds: I was not going to hurt her. I would have never hurt her, especially if They were suggesting it. I moved my paw closer to her face: her eyes were closed, she was probably expecting a hit. I poked her nose and freed her from my grip.

Her face turned red in an instant as she finally let out a nervous laughter. "Ha, very funny Lord Asriel..." she could not contain her embarrassement.

"Serves you right, human." I admonished her.

* **Idiot.** * They called me.

*Shut up, sibling.* I told Them.

After that moment of comic relief ended we went through the next door: we entered yet another purple room (the monster who designed them must have had an insane obsession for that color...).

The room had a puzzle in it: there were some stones on the right side of the room that you needed to step on to open the door to the next room.

"The Underground is full of puzzles, Frisk: they are a mix of diversions and doorkeys, created to fool the humans that were expected to fall down here."

"Fool humans? Does that mean I'm not the first one to fall down here?" she naively asked.

"You are the first one in a very...very long time. Please do not inquire me further about it." if I were to tell them about Them, I would have had to tell them about me as well...and I was not in the mood for that.

"Mmh...okay...so, to progress, I need to solve this puzzle right?" she inquired.

"You are very smart, kid. Do you see that piece of paper on the left side of the room? I would check it if I were you."

I saw the human run to the giant blue piece of paper that had the puzzle's enigma engraved on it: I wondered how much time she would have needed to solve the puzzle, maybe I should have helped her...she was so young, I was not sure how intelligent she actually was.

While I was thinking, the human appriached me and said "Done!"

I looked to the door: it was open. I looked to the right: the stones had been walked on in the correct order.

"Congratulations, you solved the puzzle. However, do not get cocky: this is not the only one you will need to complete, nor the most difficult. In fact the..." just then I noticed that the human had already went through the door to the next room, leaving me behind.

"H-Hey, come back here!" I chased her through the next room, which was much longer than the last one and was crossed by two small rivers with even smaller bridges to traverse them; the vines on the walls were a touch of class, added by me.

In front of me stood a sign that had the words "press (z) to read signs" written on it: I never understood the need for such a weird and nonsensical sign, but I never bothered demolishing it either. In fact, I appreciated it, demonstrating I had the same sense of humor as my mother...very deep inside of me.

The ordeal in this room was to activate several switches that were located within the room in order to lower some metal spikes that made progression impossible. Frisk had already activated one of them: I reached them as they lowered the final one, while the spikes started retreating.

"Frisk, you must not run away so suddenly!" I warned them "It is dangerous here!"

"Oh! S-Sorry, I think I'm a bit too excited...you're not mad at me, are you?" she asked me, saddened.

No, I could never be mad at such an innocent creature...but again, innocent-looking creatures had proved to be deserving of lots of attentions...

"I am not mad at you, I am just...worried. You will soon see why..."

"Okay, I'm following you." she said.

I walked before Frisk in the next room, which was much smaller than the last one. Itt did not possess any puzzles that needed solving, and the exit was unguarded.

Since other monsters usually did not appraoch this area, I had placed a training dummy to better my aim with magic: the dummy was visibly scorched, some cotton was pouring out of it from it's head and chest.

"Listen closely Frisk: as I said earlier, the Underground is populated by monsters, which are extremely suspicious of humans. They may decide to attack you on sight, and if that happens you will enter a FIGHT: in a FIGHT, the enemy monsters will try to shoot your Soul, the very culmination of your being, which will...exit your body, with their magic attacks. You must dodge them until I find a way to end the conflict. Here, practice with this dummy." I pointed at the training dummy on the other side of the room.

The human did not seem to believe what I had just told her, which I thought was reasonable for a human. I remembered humans were used to attack their bodies, and not their Souls, and that was what made them different from us...more or less.

She touched the dummy: suddenly, her Soul exited her chest and flew above her head. It was heart-shaped, it seem made of a shiny, pink crystal...wait...pink? What devilry was that?

The soul stationed for a while above Frisk's head, who looked at it in amazement; I always wondered how having my soul outside of my body would have felt, but unfortunately it was an experience only humans could prove.

I expected the Soul to start moving on it's own, following the human's thoughts and directions, but instead it moved right behind her chest as a number appeared above her head: 3:00

Now I was even more confused: what was that supposed to mean?

While I tried to find a reasonable explanation, Frisk had turned towards me as if expecting me to direct them "What do I do now, Asriel?"

" **Attack them.** " a feeling of dread started shivering down my spine: I did not say those words.

I realized too late that They now had control over my body: I was watching my own hands move against my will.

*Nonononono Asriel stop distracting yourself, focus on the situation* I panicked in vain, it was too late to avoid letting Them do whatever They wanted.

My gaze turned towards Frisk, who was looking at me in fear "W-What?"

" **You heard me right: use your fists, your kicks, I do not care as long as you attack. Show this training dummy your power!** " why were they saying that? I could not understand their intentions.

"N-No, I don't want to attack them! You said you would've helped me if I was in need!" she was just as terrified as me, maybe even more.

" **Help you? How can I help you if you can't even fight by yourself? There's only one rule in life: kill or be killed, the law of the jungle...** "

*No! I won't let you hurt her!* I screamed, but I could not hear any sound.

* **Be quiet you, I'm trying to give the human a valuable lesson!** * They could hear me, but they were the only one in that room.

I was shocked, I had let them take control so easily...I lowered my guard, I did not see it coming...now, because of me the human would have...

"Y-You're lying! You must be joking! Asriel, please..." she tried to convince them, in vain.

" **I am not joking, human: I am explaining you the truth...and the truth is that in this world you're either a hunter or a prey. And, since you do not look like a hunter to me...** " dark flames appeared at my sides, engulfing me in a gloomy aura. My mouth started to form a wide, malicious grin as Chara finished their sentence " **...Then you can only be a prey!** "

The number over Frisk's head started decreasing: from 3:00 it had become 2:59, 2:58...it kept decreasing steadily, as the seconds went by. I was not very interested in that however, nor was the human...but They were left interdicted for a moment, unsure of how to proceed.

"No! You're not Asriel! Asriel, please, help me! I know you're in there somewhere!" I heard Frisk scream. Hearing Frisk's cry for help, knowing that she believed in me even after all that happened...it filled me with _determination_.

The determination to free myself from Their control.

I regained control of my limbs and of my facial muscles in an instant: I spotted the human on the ground, crying, probably thinking about what was about to happen.

"Frisk!" I yelled her name as she looked at me with teary eyes, the flames disappeared from around me as I started running to her: when I finally reached her I crouched as I looked at her "Are you okay? I assure you, that was not me...I tried to save you, but..." I justified myself in front of her, a mere human.

"L-Lord Asriel?" she called my name, she was not sure that was really me.

"Please, simply Asriel is fine." I told her.

* **No, I was so close! Why did you have to-** *

"Now, can you see why I was afraid of accompanying you? I am...unstable. I cannot control myself, if They want to hurt you then I...I...I cannot do anything..." I cried black tears, something that I did not know I was still capable of doing. I am referring to the act of crying, if you did not comprehend.

"I am nothing more than a nuisance to you...to everyone..." I whispered to her.

I felt Frisk's hand touch my face, drying it of the tears that were running through it; her touch was soft and delicate, it reminded me of my mother. When I looked at her I noticed she was still crying, but she was smiling brightly nonetheless.

"Asriel, please don't say such things: I know you don't want to hurt me, and I know you won't. Even though it's been only...like, five mintues since we met each other, I...I don't think I can continue without you. I'm...scared, but you make my fears go away. Without you, I... " she looked at the ground, even sadder than before "...I don't think I can keep...going forward..."

I could not believe her words, my heart was racing all of a sudden: I was not quite sure of what was going on in my head, but...I felt the same for her. In the short while we had been together, I had laughed more than in fifty years...well, not literally but...

"I feel the same as you, Frisk." I told her "I want to guide you, you need my help...I am afraid of what might happen, but I am also...not. I cannot understand what They want from you, but...I will not let them have it. I will protect you, Frisk, now and forever."

I dried the tears from her face with my soft paw; she grabbed my paw with her two hands and held it even closer to her face, her eyes were closed, her expression was a mixture of happiness and sadness.

It felt like that childish act of caressing could continue unlimitedly, and I was fine with that.

She suddenly opened her eyes and asked "Now that it's all over, mind telling me who are "They"?"

I did not want to tell her the truth, as that would have made everything a million times more complicated, so I just told her "They are...an old friend of mine. When I threaten you...when I say bad things...it's Them, not me. They...want to hurt you, of that I am sure. But I will not let Them."

"And they are...inside of you?" she asked, a bit puzzled.

I did not answer anything, so she quickly changed the subject "Anyway, we should get going. I don't think standing in the middle of this tiny room is a wonderful idea." she chuckled a bit but I did not find it funny.

As I got up, I noticed that her Soul had retreated in her body. That "timer" she had on her head had disappeared as well, not letting me examine it further. I was puzzled by the human's Soul, I had never heard of pink Souls with such capabilities before.

"Well, shall we continue?" I asked, trying to forget about what had happened a minute prior.

Frisk nodded at me as we opened the door to the next room.


	3. The Ruins (part 2)

" _ **Asriel, what were you doing with those monsters before, at school?** " They asked._

" _Nothing important: we were chatting, like we usually do." I simply answered._

 _The serious expression that Chara was wearing didn't falter at my words, They seemed really worried about something I couldn't quite understand " **What were you talking about?** " They again inquired._

" _Again, nothing important: they just asked me if I liked living in the Palace and what do I do home, that's a-"_

 _Before I could finish that sentence, They slapped me so powerfully that I fell to the ground. I didn't know what I did wrong this time: sure, They enjoyed punching me randomly every now and then, but They never hurt me too much. Sure, it was a very aggressive way to entertain themselves, but I thought as long as they were doing it for fun it didn't matter too much; however, the hit was way too strongly to be playful, this time They were serious._

" _Ouch...what was that for?" I asked, confused and a bit annoyed._

" _ **You idiot...** " Their voice was deep and frightening: it would've made anyone jump just by hearing it, but I was accustomed to it " **Giving information about you to others is very, very stupid. Everything others know about you can and will be used against you in the future; those monsters...they may look innocent now but, given them the right reasons to do it, they will betray you. You can't trust anyone Asriel, I'm telling this for your own good. And now, get rid of those tears!** "_

* * *

I had always been scared of talking to other monsters because, even if I disagreed with Them a lot, I somewhat believed that their words were true: the less the world knew about me...about us, the better. Even though Frisk seemed so happy and curious...so eager to explore the world that extended in front of her...I had a feeling she believed in that concept as well: she said certain...cryptic phrases when we first met, and I was still thinking about those. It was clear she was hiding something from me, but she was not ready to tell me...and I was not ready to listen to her.

The puzzle in this room was simple: the highlighted path in the left corridor had to be...walked on in the right corridor, even though it was not highlighted there. If we were to fail in replicating the trail, well...we would have been impaled by iron spikes. I knew how to proceed through that area and I was ready to help Frisk traverse as well, but she had figured out the puzzle before I could even say a word. That girl was a prodigy, of that I was sure.

But, before we could reach that right corridor, a monster approached us: a Froggit, a monster similar to one of those "frogs" that inhabit some parts of the Surface; the biggest difference between those two entities was the size, since the Froggit was ten times bigger. It's skin was deep green, covered by black stains on it's back. I wondered where did it come from, I did not see it coming.

Before I could even react, Frisk positioned right in front of me, her pink Soul exited her body in an instant: once again, the Soul stationed behind her, which was extremely weird since I knew that the Soul was meant to protect the body and not vice-versa. Once more, a number appeared above her head: 1:00. The number was different, when she tried to "fight" the dummy before it was around 3:00...I wondered why did it decrease...or did it increase? I was not sure at all, everything was so confusing...if only I knew more about that pink Soul color...

I was about to scare the monster away with my flames before it could attempt to harm the human, but she acted before I could even begin "Oh my god, that's the cutest thing ever! It makes me want to bring it home and keep it as a pet!" I had to disagree with her: those monsters had no sense of hygiene.

Even though Froggits aren't capable of understanding common speech, somehow that exemplar understood what she said...flattered, he bowed to the human and returned to...whatever he was doing before, wherever he was doing it.

Before the countdown could even begin, the timer over the human's head disappeared as her Soul did: after a while, I theorized that it worked only if magic was shot at it...for example, when Chara forced me to do it a minute prior. But what would've happened if it reached zero?

There were too many questions that needed answering...but I tried to forget about them, as confusion only made things worse. Still, Frisk looked satisfied with her "victory": she hummed a victory fanfare for a while until I grew bored of it and asked her to move on.

The corridor that followed had no purpose whatsoever apart from connecting that section of the Ruins to the rest of the labyrinthine...city, if I could still call it that. Even though the corridor was lengthy and extremely wide, I felt safe there.

I started walking forward when I noticed that Frisk was staying behind: she was standing still, her breathing had increased in intensity and her eyes were not looking at me anymore, but through me.

I approached her and called her name, trying to wake her up from what looked like a daydreaming session "Frisk! Frisk!" in vain. "FRISK!" her eyes widened: she finally snapped out of it.

"W-What? Oh, sorry, I...I didn't see you over there..." she excused herself.

"What happened?" I asked.

"W-Well..." once again, she did not feel like giving me a straight-forward answer "N-Nothing, I swear, i-it was..." she was visibly shocked, but I did not know from what.

"C-Can you...please accompany me 'till the end of the room? I-I don't want to walk alone..." an uncommon and incredibly suspicious request, but I decided to help her nonetheless in any way I could "Sure, take my hand."

I did not like seeing her like that, trembling and sobbing silently, so I tried my best to reach the other end of the room but...another monster flew closer to us, it came out of nowhere: a Whimsun, to be exact. They look like fairies, but they are all extremely shy and asthmatic. This one was no exception, it sobbed loudly as it flew through the room.

I turned at Frisk: her SOUL had exited her body and her timer was decreasing...0:59, 0:58...my heart accelerated its beat as the timer decreased to 0:57.

I looked at the monster: the Whimsun was attacking us by barraging us with butterfly-shaped bullets, even though none of them were hitting us. The monster was wiping his eyes in attempting to stop the crying, but his aim had lowered substantially subsequently.

The monster could have still hit us accidentally though, so I summoned a dark blaze in my right hand (since my left one had been sequestrated by Frisk) and yelled at the monster "You, stop it! If you do not do it, you might hurt her! And if that happens..." the flame in my hand was getting bigger every second "...You will regret it..." my voice dropped a few notes.

The monster stopped attacking immediately and Frisk's Soul returned inside of her: I would have rejoiced, but I was a bit unsettled since...well, I handled the matter like Chara would have, and that was not my original idea at all.

The monster fell to the ground graciously and begged for mercy, making me feel a bit bad. Frisk whispered "Asriel, don't you think that was a bit...too much? That thing must have been scared, people do...crazy things while they're scared...right?" why did she add that "right?" at the end?

"Frisk, I was just trying to protect you! I promised to keep you safe, no matter what."

"...Someone's being over-protective..." was she condemning my decision to help her or my methods to do so?

"That is incorrect! I was simply-"

"Listen..." she interrupted me "You should apologize for being rude anyway. I mean, that monster used butterflies and you used flames!"

She did not understand how magic worked, so I thought of instructing her "Magic hurts you independently from its shape. In the end, it's the monster's own inner strength that makes an attack stronger than another."

"And...does that guy look like he has any "inner strength" at all?"

I looked at the Whimsun, who was asking for forgiveness to the wind. "You never know..." I sighed as I approached him with Frisk by my side and apologized "I'm sorry for-" I could not finish that sentence because the monster immediately flew away when I started speaking.

Weird, but acceptable from someone like him.

I finished walking through the room with Frisk, who seemed relieved to have made it all the way through; she did not even thank me, as soon as she got near the door she opened it and closed it behind her.

I needed her to explain me her...fear, or whatever caused her that initial shock. I understood her wanting to keep her secrets, but there were some basic things I had to know. I was about to proceed through the door when I suddenly felt like I was being watched.

I looked behind me, but nobody was there.

* **Despite all this time, you're still as wimpy as ever.** * They joked.

*Did you do anything?* I asked, a bit worried.

* **No, I didn't do anything.** *

I tried conversing more with Them, maybe They were hiding something from me even though it did not seem like it, but They refused to listen. I eventually decided to stop bothering and open the door in front of me.

I found Frisk eating some strange candy from a porcelain bowl near another Froggit.

"Frisk...what is that?" I asked, suspicious.

"Oh, you mean this candy? This frog here pointed me to that room over there..." she pointed at a small room on her right "...where I found this bowl on a small column...oh, wait, I think the monster wanted to give you something as well!"

After she said that the frog-like monster approached me and gave me a piece of paper, which read "Ribbit Ribbit (Hey, small human and terrifying goat-guy! I'm sorry for spooking you before, I just wanted to have some fun with you! Here are some candies my mom made for me, I'm not hungry right now so you can have them!) Ribbit Ribbit."

I watched as the monster disappeared from sight, while I was left wondering *Why must everyone exchange me for a goat? What are goats anyway? Am I unaware of something perhaps?*

I was about to ask Frisk what are goats, but she grabbed my hand and started running to the left, to the other side of the room, so I had to focus on not tripping.

We reached the end of the small corridor and went through the door on the left: the next room looked like another empty corridor...well, it would have been if it was not for the hole covered in leaves in the middle of the room that you had to fall through in order to continue. I did not remember how though, since I usually did not come to this part of the Ruins: I preferred to use a longer but less trap-filled path instead.

I did not remember how profound the hole was, nor did I want to find out. I stopped her right before the edge of the small ravine and asked her if she could do me a favor.

"Of course! What do I have to do?" she asked, naively.

"Brace yourself."

I lifted her body from the sides and threw her to the other side of the room: at first I thought she was not ready for it and that she would have fell horribly, but she managed to land on her feet much to my relief. I asked her if she got hurt nonetheless: she replied that not only was she unharmed, but that she enjoyed the ride as well.

I did not know if to risk jumping to the other side of the hole or to be brave and fall through it hoping it was not too deep; in the end, the reckless part of me got the upper hand and I decided to jump it: I returned to the entrance of the room, took a deep breath and ran to the hole. Unfortunately I tripped at the last second and fell through the hole anyway (wearing a robe surely did not help).

* **Well, congratulations: you managed to look like an idiot in front of the brat. Again.** * They insulted me as they snickered.

Hearing Chara laugh in my head embarrassed me largely so I got up quickly and looked around me: there were two doors, one on the left and one on the right; I entered the one on the right and I got where Frisk was...well, sometimes magic is weird even for us monsters.

Frisk was staying still, her Soul...I then realized that if I could see her Soul and the timer above her head, then it could only mean that she was fighting someone.

In front of her, a slime monster, whose name was Moldsmal, was idling while shooting little white pellets at her: even though the patterns were complicated, they never hit her at all. In fact, it did not even look like he...she...it, even wanted to hit her. Frisk was looking at the Moldsmal, seemingly careless...perhaps it's more correct to say she was looking _through_ it. That was the second time in a few minutes, there had to be something wrong.

"Frisk!" I called her name. Frisk fell from the clouds (yes, that expression was known by monsters as well) and looked at me in the eyes; meanwhile the smile monster had fled, much to the human's chagrin.

She thought aloud "I think I understand the world a little better..." I could not understand why she said that, but I did not care because...

*Maybe she did not see me fail!*

"Oh, by the way, nice jump you did there." she commented as she chuckled.

* **Or maybe she did, idiot.** * I asked Them to shut up, since I was getting sick of their comments.

Meanwhile, I tried to hide the fact that I was blushing for the embarrassment, but there was no need for that: she had already gone into the next room, so I followed her close behind.

In this room another pressure plate puzzle had to be solved in order to lower other iron spikes that divided the room in half. This time, however, the pressure plate had to be held active by positioning a rock over it, that would have stopped the spikes from rising again: the rock at issue was standing some meters away from the pressure plate and Frisk had already started moving it; I noticed however that she was moving very slowly, not only that but she was also sweating...perhaps she was not as athletic as I initially thought. I asked her if she needed my help.

"W-What? Oh, right...yeah, I may need some help...I hate carrying weights and stuff..."

I helped the human push the rock on the pressure plate: the spikes lowered as I predicted and we were allowed to continue.

In the following room the floor was fake except on a very specific road: even though I knew that Frisk could have solved the puzzle simply by falling downstairs and reading some signs that explained it, I preferred to guide her through the puzzle myself since I was not sure she would have survived the fall.

I wondered if I was being too overprotective with the human, but I quickly shoved those thoughts away; anyway, we made it through the room and entered another one: it had the same type of pressure plate puzzle we saw two rooms ago, except we now had to push three rocks.

I helped Frisk push two of the three rocks but, while we were preparing to push the third one, the rock suddenly spoke "WOAH there pardner! Who said you could push me around?" the rock had a weird accent that I immediately disliked.

I did not know that there were rocks that could talk...Frisk, however, was not as surprised as I was: she asked the rock to move, like she was talking to a friend. I guess she saw too many weird things in one day to be surprised anymore.

"HMM? So you're ASKIN' me to move over? Okay, but just for you pumpkin." I was surprised the rock called Frisk a "pumpkin": did he use the term as a substantive or as an adjective? Either way, she did not seem to care.

The rock started moving towards the pressure plate, but it stopped mid-way; I was beginning to get nervous, my anger was boiling inside my head. Frisk approached the rock and asked it to move again.

"HMM? You want me to move some more? Alrighty, how's this?" I still could not figure out how was the rock talking: I wondered if it was a monster in disguise, since I knew some monsters could speak even without an actual mouth.

Instead of going towards the pressure plate, the rock deviated to the left. Anger was flowing through my veins; I heard Them ask me * **Can I kill it?** *

*No, but I am almost willing to actually letting you.* I answered, surprisingly seriously.

Frisk sighed, but approached the rock again with all the patience in the world "Alright listen, can you move over that plate over there?"

"Okay, think I got it." the rock finally moved over the pressure plate as the human sang some words "And we~ are the champions, my friend...", earning a chuckle from me. Chara sighed, I knew They still wanted to kill the rock. I remembered them that rocks are not alive...I restarted questioning the nature of that rock.

As we were about to cross the room, however. the spikes rose before our eyes and I barely managed to stop Frisk from getting impaled; I slowly turned around, my eyes filled with hatred, as I saw exactly what I had expected: the rock had moved away from the pressure plate at the last second.

I summoned black flames all around me, ready to strike "Do you want to die, you puny insolent-"

"Oh, you wanted me to STAY there? Gee, you're giving me a real workout here." and with those words, the rock positioned again on the pressure plate, lowering the spikes.

I could not tolerate the rock's presence though, and I commanded my flames to hit it nonetheless: the flames hit the rock, but the latter's surface remained unscratched.

Frisk approached me from behind and asked me "Dude, don't you know that fire isn't very effective against rock?" she chuckled a bit after asking that, which I found a bit ridiculous since she was laughing at her own grammar errors...or maybe, I thought, there was a hidden joke I could not understand.

Nevertheless, I explained to the human the mechanics of magic...perhaps a bit too angrily "It does not matter what body a monster has: magic is effective no matter what shape it takes, no matter what it hits!"

I looked her in the eyes: she was furious with me "Anyway, by trying to hit that...motherfreaking rock, you became the bad guy! And that's...extremely bad!" she condemned me like a kid would, she even censored herself.

* **This kid really is an idiot. Maybe that's why you like her so much.** * They observed, making me even more angry.

"...Perhaps it is best we continue and forget about this..." I tried to cool down my fury.

The human blocked the way: she pointed at the rock and ordered me to go apologize.

I was shocked at the human's impudence "I will die before I beg for forgiveness from...a rock! I can bear excusing in front of a monster, but that _thing_..."

I tried explaining, but Frisk did not seem to like my excuses: after my attempts of persuading her failed, I sighed as I admitted defeat and went to apologize.

* **Now you take orders from a kid? You're a disappointment Asriel.** * for once, I was okay with them: that was tremendously pathetic.

I apologized to the rock for trying to burn it to a crisp and patiently waited for it to say something on the lines of "Yeah, no hard feelings"..but it did not say anything: in fact, it did not seem capable of listening either. It returned to being a normal, uninteresting rock. I swear in that moment I could _kill_ someone.

I ran towards Frisk, took her by force under my arm and brought her to the next room while she screamed to put her down. We entered the room and I quickly closed the door behind us to prevent her from returning there; I promised to myself never to enter that area again.

"That was rude of you Asriel! Has no-one ever taught you never to touch a girl, even with a flower?" she asked, still a bit angry.

"I apologize, but I had to. That rock was driving me to madness, and I wrongfully poured it onto you...again, sorry."

"It's okay." she let the argument slide "You had all the right reasons to be mad...I myself don't want to have anything to do with that rock anymore..." she chuckled and then she added "However, you should learn to control yourself. Thankfully, that was a rock...but if it weren't a rock? If it were a living creature?"

* **Like her, perhaps?** * I could feel them smiling in my mind, their dark thoughts permeated my brain...I deleted them as quickly as I could.

As I was being scolded by Frisk, I looked around the room: yet another small corridor, the only interesting thing to point out was a small table with some kind of weird yellow...thing atop it, standing in the middle of the room next to the wall.

I was a bit unsettled by whatever that was, I felt like it was out of place in the Ruins; upon further inspection, i found out that the thing was stuck to the table. I also discovered a small mousehole next to the table, I would have missed it if I had not payed enough attention.

"Knowing that one day the mouse might leave it's hole and get the cheese..." the human spoke in a melodious tone, I never heard her speak like that "...it fills you with _determination_..." she ended.

What was she talking about, I wondered. I had to inquire her further "Are you talking with me?"

She looked at me like I just peered at some unseen conversation "No, I was...talking with myself. You know...self-encouragement and stuff."

While I was pondering seeking medical assistance for Frisk I heard someone...sob loudly in the next room. A cry so dementedly infantile I considered covering my ears with my paws. It looked like someone had a really bad day...

Chara joked darkly * **Please, don't tell me it's another stupid human...** *

I shuddered at their jest: having one human to care about was already difficult enough, having two to constantly babysit would have been downright impossible...thankfully, logic suggested that was indeed not a human, as I would have found them first if they had fallen down here.

I waited for Frisk to proceed: she took my hand and spurred me to go search for that noise...


	4. The Ruins (part 3): Napstablook

" _...Come on Chara, you can't say something like that!"_

 _I got up from the ground and stood valiantly before Them: their eyes were filled with rage, but they looked...more annoyed than angered at me. I could not tell if they were more unsettled by the fact I could not believe them...or simply because I dared to say something._

 _I had never been so brave, before...I had never stood against Them, especially when we talked about...what I believed were silly things, arguments that were destined to be forgotten the following day. Usually They never explained to me why did They act like They did...but that time They made an exception._

" _ **Asriel...you really are an idiot...** " They walked closer to me but I did not step back; I could feel my heart racing in my chest as They continued " **...Listen closely, as I'll tell you just once: the world is cruel. Take this as an example: on the Surface, there are things called "animals". They're very similar to monsters, but they can't think or talk like we do...** " Chara closed their eyes, as if trying to remember something buried deep inside their memory "... **And even though they're pretty much all cute and adorable, to some extent...they all participate in the "circle of life", where you kill to survive, wherever and whenever possible. There's no such thing as "friendship" there: if you're different than me, if you're not related to me, you're just an**_ **enemy** _ **...** "_

 _They stopped walking forward and finally opened their eyes: their red color was even brighter that day, I could have saw them even if the lights were out " **...Now, look around you Asriel: you live in a world where everyone looks different than you. Nobody cares if you live or if you die: everyone cares only about themselves and those who are close to them. That's it. I'm your sibling, Asriel, and I just want to protect you: protect you from this world, from the rotten people that walk on it...I trust you, brother, I'll never betray you because I know you'll never betray me...right?** "_

* * *

Those words had been haunting me for a lifetime, now. "I know you will never betray me..." I heard them in my nightmares, I heard them when I thought about Them, almost everything reminded me of that sentence. However, now that I had Frisk to look after, I spent less time bothering about those distant echoes...besides, I could not have thought about Them while that noise kept buzzing in my ears.

In front of us was a huge monster: they looked like a ghost monster...but they were looking the other way so I could not tell. Whatever they were, they were blocking the way: the monster was lying on the floor in front of us, and they were as wide as the small passage we needed to traverse.

For unknown reasons, it kept repeating the letter "z" as if...

"Are they...pretending to sleep? That's the worst attempt ever at deceiving someone." Frisk figured it out as well, so I asked her what she thought was the right course of action.

"Err...ask him kindly? I know I should always be asking things politely..."

* **Ask him kindly? Since I already know you're going to follow her orders like the lapdog you are, why don't you ask them some new clothes as well? Perhaps something that isn't purple?** * while I tried to dispel Chara's ironic taunts I walked closer to the ghost "Excuse me mister, could you please get out of the way? Me and my...friend, we are trying to get to the other side of the Ruins and-" without warning the ghost got up and started floating in the air: his...eyes dripped tears as he sobbed endlessly. Suddenly, one of his tears flew towards me: that was probably his way of attacking, shooting his own tears...how depressing.

I barely managed to dodge the attack by strafing to the right...only then I remembered that Frisk was right behind me. I turned towards her: her pink Soul had already come out and positioned like the other times and, just like the first time she got in a FIGHT, the timer started at 3:00.

I wanted to ponder why did that timer start at three minutes once again, but I could not do so because more tear projectiles were shot at me; even though I had some troubles avoiding them, since they were so small they were difficult to see, Frisk was dodging them easily...it made me a bit envious, to be honest.

"Just...leave me alone, please." the ghost looked incredibly sad, but I was too focused on dodging to concentrate on his misery; the human, however, got closer to him and tried to cheer him up.

"I'd just weigh you down..." the ghost answered, much to her disappointment.

Even though Frisk was closer to the monster than I was she was dodging his shots way easily: I wondered if that was because she was younger...or if she actually trained to be this good.

* **Congratulations, brother: you're worse at dodging than a freaking kid! I bet you're** _ **so**_ **proud of yourself...** * They taunted me.

*Could you please stop talking? I am trying to keep us alive here!* I answered annoyed.

* **Why do you even care about this guy anyway? He's trying to kill you: isn't that enough of a good reason to strike back?** * I knew They were right...sort of, but I wanted to see how Frisk would have handled the situation: so far she had done an amazing job at avoiding direct confrontation with the monsters, she surely had some kind of plan-

"Hey, do you know why the ghost took the elevator? To lift his spirit!"

* **Yeah: truly, an amazing plan...like saying idiocies like those will-** *

The joke was horrible, but the ghost chuckled nonetheless; in fact, it made me blush as well...I quickly hid that smile, ashamed of myself.

* **Oh come on! This is madness!** * They shouted in my head. Meanwhile, the tears were slowing down considerably and dodging became much easier.

"What sort of ice cream do ghosts eat? I-Screams!" the ghost's slightly creepy laugh was a bit contagious: I was now laughing as well while Chara screamed angrily.

"...You're...uh...really funny...hey, can I show you something?" his ears stop flying towards us and instead flew upwards: they started merging together as they formed a...top-hat?

"I call this the...dapper-blook...do you like it?" unlike Frisk's joke, which I thought was somewhat clever, this one was terrible; I felt like I needed to vomit, but Frisk had a different opinion: she laughed insanely, like she just heard the funniest thing ever. If she liked that joke then she probably was indeed crazy.

The ghost stopped crying and whispered "Oh dear...I usually come to the Ruins because there's nobody around...but today I meet someone...nice. Thanks, human, for making me feel better. What's your name?"

"My name's Frisk! Nice to meet you!"

"Well, uh...I have to go. Got some things to do, you know...I'm sure we'll see each other soon. Bye..." his body vibrated, it felt like he was...waving at us. He disappeared shortly afterwards.

* **...Well, that just happened. This...is...madness! Total, absolute madness! You're all freaking idiots! And the worst part is that you keep thinking this is normal!** * I loved hearing every last word They said: it was good to hear them rage every now and then, it was one of my primary means of entertainment. Everything that contradicted their way of thinking made Them mad.

Frisk approached me quietly, but she had a wide grin spread on her face. She asked, ironic "So...since you like my jokes so much, do you want to hear more?"

"Absolutely no!" I shouted.

"Oh, come on! You _goat_ to be kidding me!"

"Is that supposed to be a-" as soon as I realized the wordplay, I fell silent. Frisk's grin kept widening as I sank deeper in my own mind; even Chara went mute, unable to comment.

"What! Are! Goats! Anyway!" I yelled at the wind as the human burst in laughter and fell to her knees.

We ventured through the Ruins for another ten minutes at least: we solved many puzzles and "fought" many monsters...Frisk always managed to end the encounter peacefully, her timer always disappeared before it could end; I desperately wanted to know what did that timer do, but as long as the opportunity did not present itself I could only theorize on how it actually worked.

I considered asking Frisk to stall for time during a battle, just to see what would've happened once the timer ended...but what if something bad happened? Something unforeseeable, unexpected...

I could not risk hurting Frisk just to satisfy my curiosity.

After we met Napstablook, our journey became...boring. There are not a lot of events worth mentioning...well, except two.

In one instance, we had entered a small, weird room. There were two cobwebs, one of them as slightly bigger than the other one, and a sign that read "Spider Bake Sale. All proceeds go to real spiders!"

Frisk's stomach groaned, making her chuckle. She asked me if she could grab something to eat from this bakery.

"Are you serious, Frisk?" I inquired, incredulous.

"What's the worse that could happen?" she answered carefree.

"The food could be poisonous! You could get ill...you could even die! Not all monster food is edible for humans!" I tried to make her reason.

"...Whatever. I'm feeling lucky: give me some money, please."

"Oh, come on...screw it, do as you please..."

I gave some of the coins I held in my robe's pocket to the human: precisely seven, if I recall correctly, enough to buy what the sign said was a "Spider Donut". The gold coins we used back then in the Underground were around the size of a normal human coin, but they were slightly heavier due to the pure metal they were made of.

She dropped the coins on the cobweb: as soon as she did so, a spider descended from the ceiling carrying a weird looking doughnut. The pastry was pink and had some spider-like decorations on it, made of a brownish substance that I hoped was chocolate.

The human grabbed the doughnut and held it closer to her mouth: she seemed to have an afterthought, she was slowly lowering her jaw...but, in the end, she ate the dulcet anyway.

"Does it taste good?" I asked, a bit worried.

"It's...pretty good. Do you want to try it?" she asked as she offered me a piece of her meal.

I was not sure...it seemed very good, but it could have been awful...I finally decided to try it myself.

When I grabbed the doughnut, I thought I saw something small and black exit from the hole caused by the human's bite. I was not sure though, maybe it was my imagination playing tricks on me. I asked Chara just to be sure.

* **I don't know what you're talking about...I wasn't even paying attention...** * They simply responded.

I decided at last to trust my guts and eat the dessert against my better judgment. The doughnut tasted okay, the inside was full of a chocolate-vanilla cream...but I also felt something else, a weird flavor I could not define exactly...

I only grabbed a bite of the meal and let Frisk finish it. After she finished her doughnut, we moved on to the next room. A sign there read "Spider bake sale to the right! Come eat food made by spiders, for spiders, of spiders!"

I swear I was about to vomit: I pressed my paw against my mouth and tried to contain myself. I saw Frisk read the sign and express a completely different viewpoint "I should eat spiders more often, they were so good..."

* **Wow...what is this kid? You should stay away from her, she's a real weirdo.** * Chara commented while chuckling. They hated her, but they loved pulling pranks on me as well. They must have foresaw that outcome from a mile away.

Another time, we met an...extremely weird monster, one that made me go insane just by looking at it. We were solving a puzzle when this...creature appeared out of the ground.

It looked like a carrot, but it had semi-closed eyes and a grin that extended on it's entire face.

Frisk jumped in front of me, her timer started at one minute once again: by now I had figured out that the longer the period of time, the more difficult the opponent. I still had troubles understanding how did it work, but at least I was making progress.

"Hey, can you please move out of the way?" Frisk always tried making the monster go away without fighting, sometimes in...unconventional ways, but this time the approach was more direct.

"Plants can't talk, dummy!" the monster replied, self-denying it's own sentence.

The creature launched a wave of...vegetables at us. Carrots, potatoes, onions: an entire grocery store's assortment was fired at us. Thankfully my dodging skills had increased since our encounter with Napstablook: I managed to avoid all the projectiles with confidence.

I heard Chara whispering me to burn the enemy to ashes, but I ignored them and tried to figure out a way to deal with the veggie without hurting it; suddenly, Frisk's stomach groaned once more.

"How can you already be hungry? We just ate those...doughnuts..." I felt horrible just thinking about those culinary blasphemies.

"Come on! There's no way that thing could've filled me up! You should've bought me at least...a dozen!" she said as she patted her stomach, somewhat annoyed by her hunger.

"Eat your greens!" the monster shouted creepily.

More vegetables were shot at us but one of them (a tomato to be precise) had a weird shiny green color and was aimed at Frisk specifically: Frisk grabbed the strange tomato in mid-air and ate it.

"Hmm...not amazing, but still great. Thanks!" I rolled my eyes from the embarrassment.

The creature stopped attacking and the timer on Frisk's head disappeared once more: I was getting used to this process, believe it or not. My stomach groaned as well, making me even more embarrassed. The human convinced me to ask the veggie for a meal, so I did so with little hesitation.

Next thing I knew I was sitting on my knees, keeping my belly together with both my hands. Something big hit me there, and whatever it was it rolled on the floor next to me. I turned to face the projectile and discovered it was a...watermelon.

"That's not even a vegetable, goddammit!" I yelled as Frisk laughed hysterically; I got up and looked for the monster, but it had disappeared. Good for them, they would not have liked what would have happened next.

A few minutes later we finally reached my house: a small residence in the deepest part of the Ruins, in a part of the old city nobody ever entered. The entrance had no door, there were two windows with no glasses and the walls were made of purple bricks. In the open space that preceded the entrance an imposing black tree stood valiantly before us.

Every time that tree grew it's characteristic's red leaves, they fell down to the ground almost instantly. What a tragic story...that tree had not been like that forever, once upon a time it's figure was the emblem of the magnificent building I called-

"Is this your home, Asriel?" Frisk interrupted my trip down memory lane.

"Excuse me? Oh, sorry...yes, this is my home." I told her as we entered the house.

We entered the antechamber: the floor was made of a white wooden parquet; even the walls were painted of white. On our right there was my bedroom, another bedroom I never used, and a bathroom; on our left the living room and the kitchen. Some stairs in front of us led to the basement...

Seeing those stairs filled me with sadness: they led to the exit from the Ruins, where eventually...Frisk would have...

The thought of Frisk leaving me was unbearable, unthinkable; fortunately Frisk interrupted my wondering by asking me if she could sleep somewhere, since she was tired.

"What? Oh, you are right..." I coughed nervously "...The bedroom is right there...let me just..." I showed her the bedroom that I did not use. The room was painted red, in the corner there was a child-sized bed and in front of it a box full of toys, while on the right there were, in order, a wardrobe, a sideboard, a small box and a lamp; on the walls there were some drawings of flowers, of myself, and of...Them, while on the sideboard there was a picture of me, Chara and our parents.

The human did not inspect the room too much as she immediately threw herself on the bed and then slid under the blankets.

"Asriel..." she called for me meekly.

"Yes, Frisk?"

"I'm going to sleep for a while, wake me up when it's dinner time..."

"Of course, Frisk." only after I said that she finally closed her eyes. I got even closer to her: while she slept, she looked even more beautiful and frail. For the first time in a long, long while I...I could feel something beat in my chest. Something that did not beat for me, as it did for the past decades, but for someone else. It felt good.

I brushed her hair with my paw and kissed her on her forehead, like my mom used to do when I was a kid: a wide smile appeared on her face, a token of appreciation for my care. Feeling a little drowsy myself, I sat on the bed and closed my eyes...

 _I recognized the room: it was the same where I had found Frisk an hour before, and yet it looked...different. A dark aura covered the whole room, making it almost impossible to see; it felt like the darkness was...shining of it's own, if that makes sense._

 _The hole that connected the place to the Surface was not there anymore, the place did not have a way out either: I was trapped._

 _The golden buttercups in the middle of the room looked dry, almost...dead. Except one: in the middle of the flowerbed, one plant started growing, elevating itself over the other flowers; it gradually became as tall as myself...no, it was even bigger._

 _It didn't have stamens nor pistils: it looked just like the drawings I made as a child, with a white plain circle in the middle of the golden petals. Suddenly, two slots appeared on the flower...it felt like they were being carved with a knife: they slowly materialized and began to widen. In a similar fashion a grin appeared on the flower, slowly expanding until it threatened to become even bigger than the flower itself._

 _A gooey black liquid poured from the flower's eyes and mouth but it's expression remained the same: it kept on looking to me for a while before saying..._

" _ **Howdy! Welcome to...your worst nightmare!** " followed by a laugh so insanely sadistic it will probably remain stuck in my head for the rest of my life..._

I woke up instantly, covered in sweat: my nightmares were usually about Them talking to me, shaming me, reminding me of my mistakes...this time the nightmare was different, it did not look like They were the ones that caused it. Still, it looked real, it looked too real for my tastes.

I looked at Frisk: she was still sleeping. How much time had passed?

I was not hungry, so I imagined it had not been too long. I went to the bathroom looking for a clock, just to be sure. Whatever time it was, I had to take a cold shower and forget about that horror.


	5. Home

" _...So I have to mix the milk and cream..." I hesitantly repeated._

" _Yes, my child..." Mom encouraged me._

" _...And then cook it at medium-high temperature until bubbles appear on the surface."_

" _Yes indeed! You truly are a natural cook, Asriel!" she congratulated me, exultant._

 _My cooking lessons were getting more and more difficult as I progressed, Mom was now teaching me how to bake her delicious pies: despite being somewhat good at cooking, I was not very proud of it and I always feared I would have miscalculated something eventually. Of course, that never happened: in fact, I was so good Dad started complimenting me by saying that I was better at cooking than Mom herself. I blushed every time he did that, I did not believe in my talent as much as everyone else did._

" _Asriel, you are becoming such a great chef!" Mom chuckled as she kept complimenting me. I could not turn towards her, I was still baking the pie._

" _Do you really think so?" I asked, surprised and unsure._

" _Yes, my child: if you keep improving so quickly, I might as well ask you to cook for us forever!" I turned around for a second: she smiled at me kindly._

" _N-No, please! Once per day is already enough stressful!" I was already sweating copiously, but she quickly reassured me "Haha, do not worry my child: I was merely teasing you."_

" _Oh, haha..." understanding when Mom was serious and when she was not was one of the most difficult things to master in the Palace, and after fifteen years I had not did it yet "...Besides, if I were to cook all the time, I would never eat one of your amazing butterscotch-cinnamon pies again..."_

" _...However, we would eat your delicious pies instead!" she pointed out._

" _Oh, please Mom! My pies are not that great..."_

" _No no no, they are delicious indeed my child." she walked right next to me and enveloped me in a tight, warm hug, that kind of hug only a mother could give "I love you, Asriel. I am very, very proud of having you and Chara as my children..." I did not want to let go, I never wanted to let go. But the pie would not cook itself, so I had to ask her to release the hug._

" _You will become a great chef...and a great King too, Asriel. Wait and see, my child, wait and see..." she whispered softly as I returned to my duties._

* * *

I washed my face in the washbasin a fair amount of times before finally drying my face with a nearby towel; I looked in the mirror, examining myself: the mirror reflected a big monster, with a white furry face, a big mouth with sharp teeth, floppy ears, long horns, and black tattoos reminiscent of a stream of tears under my glowing red eyes. Those tattoos were painted all over my body as well. In monster lore, they represented a curse: nothing more fitting for the likes of me.

I could not understand why did the human never look at me fearfully, especially when we first met: I always thought that I was frightening, that I was a danger for everyone...all the other monsters in the Ruins thought so at least, otherwise there would not have been a valid explanation for why did they always avoid me whenever possible. However, with Frisk by my side, monsters had begun approaching me undauntedly: if they were less...barbarian when they did so, I could have even tolerated their presence.

I smiled at the monster in the mirror; Chara reminded me * **Despite everything, it's still you.** *

I looked at the clock in the corner of the bathroom: it was 7:00 pm. I had to start preparing dinner as soon as possible, but I did not want to risk waking up Frisk early by running to the kitchen so I carefully and slowly walked all the way through the house.

When I reached the kitchen, I looked inside my fridge to see if I had anything to cook: there were potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, mushrooms, a bunch of different herbs and much more: everything I needed to prepare a tasty dinner.

I decided I would have cooked a simple pasta with tomato sauce as the main dish and cooked mushrooms as the second dish.

I took the mushrooms, the tomatoes and some garlic from the fridge, along with a bit of parsley and basil from a nearby shelf to increase the flavor of both the pasta and the mushrooms. From the drawer next to the oven I took a bag of pasta, a bottle of olive oil, salt and pepper.

First, I prepared the pasta sauce: I moved the frying pan over the oven and put the olive oil and a slice of garlic in it, then I turned on the oven at slow fire (I decided not to use my fire magic because I needed to worry about the other dishes as well); next, I cut the tomatoes with a knife I kept in the drawer and put them in the pan. I raised the temperature a little bit, but not too much.

Next I worried about the mushrooms: I washed them carefully in the sink and dried them, then prepared another frying pan with olive oil and garlic in it: I would have eventually put the mushrooms there once they were cleaned and polished. At intervals of roughly two minutes I approached the oven and mixed the pasta sauce, then returned to the mushrooms and repeated. When the mushrooms were all clean and dried, I moved on to the pasta itself: I prepared a large pot and filled it with water, then moved it on the oven and turned on another burner. I would have known it was ready to put the pasta into once it started boiling. I took the mushrooms and put them in the other frying pan with some salt, some pepper and a bit of parsley, then put a cover on the frying pan and waited for the pasta sauce to finish cooking: around that time the mushrooms would have been ready for sure. I moved on to the water-filled pot: it was already boiling, so I poured some salt in it followed shortly by the pasta itself. I carefully measured the pasta so that it would have been precisely enough for two people. I played the waiting game for the next 10 minutes, regularly mixing the pasta sauce and sometimes mixing the mushrooms as well: I was delighted when everything I prepared finished cooking at the same time, I had to thank my prodigious predicting skills for it.

I turned off the fire on all the burners and threw the spoons I used for cooking in the sink: I would have washed them later, after dinner. After I finished preparing the pasta, I poured it in two plates: one for me, and one for Frisk. I poured the mushrooms in a separate plate, complete with some more herbs to make them even tastier. My mouth was already watering.

* **Asriel, I shouldn't be the one to remember you but...you forgot to wake up Frisk.** * They remembered me, but there was no need to *Oh, do not worry! I was about to go wake her up anyway.*

* **Whatever, like I care...** * I could see Them blush in my mind, even though they were not corporeal. I never fully understood how having Them in my Soul affected me, or even how did our telepathic connection even worked, so I stopped trying and began to take everything that happened for granted.

I walked through the house once more and entered Frisk's bedroom quietly: she was still sleeping like an angel, but I had to wake her up "Wake up, my dear. Come on!" she opened her eyes and looked at me suspicious, she did not seem to be expecting to see me at all. That lasted only a second, however, as she quickly returned to her joyous attitude and greeted me warmly "Hello there, Asriel!"

"I have prepared dinner, Frisk. Shall we go?" I inquired rhetorically.

"Yeah, sure! What did you prepare?" she asked me a bit too enthusiastically.

"Pasta with tomato sauce and fried mushrooms. Is the menu of your liking?"

"Of course! I can already feel them in my mouth!"

We walked together to the table and I served her the necessary cutlery: before she could even begin eating, she asked me "Excuse me, do you have any cheese to put on the pasta?"

*Oh god, what did I do wrong?* I panicked.

"Err...no, I do not possess any...cheese? What is it?" I asked, dumbfounded. Do not mistake my past self as an idiot, however: nobody in the Underground knew what cheese was, since there were no animals to harvest milk from. Everything we knew how to cook were vegetables and a few other ingredients that naturally grew in the caverns.

"You don't know what cheese is? For real?" she asked in return, surprised.

"I hate to admit it, but no, I have never heard of such herb."

The human laughed uncontrollably, I could not understand why was she humiliating me like that "W-Why is that funny?"

She finished laughing and finally explained, confusing me even more "Cheese is an ingredient that is produced by certain animals: it's yellow, tasty, and is used both as a standalone dish and as a condiment for more complicated dishes. Heck, it comes in so many different varieties if I were to list them all I could keep you here for days!"

"Wait, you do? How can you remember such a list?" more importantly, why did she have to remember it?

"Oh, I'm joking! I don't really know all of them, I simply know a few!" she reassured me.

Wishing to have a second judgment, I asked Chara to describe cheese as best as They could remember it.

* **What she said is right, it's a product made from milk which is a white substance harvested from cows...goats...sometimes pigs...** *

I shivered when I heard them pronounce the word "goat". For some reason, I touched all over my body trying to figure out where did this "milk" come from; I then remembered I was not a goat and stopped trying to figure it out.

Meanwhile, Frisk was eating her whole plate delighted "This pasta is pretty good!" her expression darkened for an instant as she continued "...But I miss hers..."

"Whose?" I asked, worried.

She did not answer me: she looked sad, and I blamed myself for that "Sorry, I should not have asked..."

"...It's fine." she managed to say "...I don't want to talk about that, sorry. Let's change the conversation's topic, okay?" I nodded in approval and she immediately regained her positive facade "So, who taught you how to cook so well?"

Now she was the one to touch a nerve. Nevertheless, I answered the question without losing my composure "My mom did. She was an excellent cook."

"Wow! Can I meet her one day?"

"I...I do not think you can."

Her face's skin went pale in an instant "Y-You mean...your mom is...like..."

I could not understand her reaction at first, but when I did I hated myself for deceiving her like that "Oh dear, no! She is not dead, I can assure you of that!" at least I hoped she was not.

The human sighed in relief "Oh, haha...yeah, I tend to jump to conclusions a bit too early..."

"Do not worry: it was entirely my fault you misinterpreted. It has been a while since I conversed with someone other than...Them."

She disregarded what I just said and instead asked me "If she's not dead, can I meet her then?"

"Well...I presume you can...I, however, have not seen her in a very, very long time."

"Why, if I may ask?" she was worried, and that made me stutter "I..."

I idled silent until Frisk finally said "It's okay. You don't want to tell me that, just like...I don't want to tell you some things. It's fine, really! I hope one day we'll be able to tell each other secrets freely...just like friends do." she ended that sentence with a smile that melted my heart.

"Yes...you are right. I hope so too." if I have to be honest, I was not quite sure; however, I did not want to oppose her so I pretended to believe her.

After we finished eating, we cleaned the plates and cutlery together, silently and methodically; we then moved to the living room: I sat on the rocking chair while she laid on the carpet in front of me. It felt somewhat awkward, however, so I asked her if she wanted to sit on my lap: she agreed immediately, and that made the situation even more awkward...but after she sat on my legs, everything became much less embarrassing.

"So...we should find a suitable way to end the evening. What do you do in your spare time?" I asked the human, curious.

"Uh...first you tell me!" she let out a small giggle.

"Oh, I like to read." I pointed towards the shelves full of books on the other side of the room "But I have finished my entire collection a titanic amount of times, so reading has become slightly boring. Besides, that is a solitary activity, not recommended for two or more people. In conclusion...I do not know what to do, if I have to be honest." I let out a small, nervous laugh. The tension had returned, much to my chagrin.

Frisk seemed to have found the courage to speak "You know, I...I like singing." she explained it like it was a huge secret, but it did not look embarrassing to me.

In fact, I was rather jealous "Really? I have never been a good singer...could you please show me your talent?"

She immediately got up from my lap and started circling the room; after a short while, she inquired "Do you have any instruments?"

I thought I did not have any instruments...until I finally remembered I had a small classical guitar in my bedroom's wardrobe. I never used it though, I treated it more like a decoration than...well, a hobby or a pastime. I was not sure I could even play it anymore, it had been so much time since I last tried it; I went to take it nevertheless and gave it to the human. Now that it was out of the wardrobe, I could observe it better: despite how old that thing was, it still looked as good as new.

The human grabbed the guitar confidently and tuned it as best as she could. I wondered how well could she play that instrument...that reminded me: she did not ask for a guitar, she asked for _any_ instrument...that made me curious, very curious.

She started singing a song I had never heard before:

" _We are living our lives...abound with so much information..._

 _Come on, let go the remote,_

 _don't you know,_

 _you're letting all the junk flood in,_

 _try to stop the flow, double-clicking on the go,_

 _but it's no use, hey, I'm being consumed..._ "

She sang perfectly, but I could not understand the song's sense: I had never heard such a song before, especially the motive. It was...unusual, much faster than the songs that I had listened to in my childhood. But I liked that song, especially the refrain:

" _We are trapped in a maze of relationships,_

 _life goes on with or without you,_

 _I swim in the sea of the unconscious,_

 _I search for your heart, pursuing my true self..._ "

The way she sang it...she was not singing the song, she was _feeling_ it: music was a way for her to express her true feelings, in a way that was not immediate to the listener and that required a lot of attention. Somehow, I felt like those words were directed specifically at me, the intonation of her voice consolidated that theory.

She sang that song until it finally ended, roughly two minutes later "That was wonderful, Frisk! Where did you learn to sing so well?"

"My mom taught me..." she paused for a second, then added "...The song is from a video game, however. I learned it all by myself!" she seemed very proud of herself, but I did not know at the time what a "video game" was "Hey, do you want to learn how to sing?"

I blushed furiously "O-Oh come on Frisk, I am never going to be as good as you...in fact, I am not a good singer at all..."

"I should be the one saying "come on"! If you're not good, you learn: that's how life works!" she then added, while looking elsewhere "...I think..."

That last statement confused me even more "What did you say?"

"Look, just try! You can't hide behind such weak excuses!" she pretended not to hear me.

* **Come on, Asriel: don't you want to make your master- I mean, human happy?** * They mocked me.

"S-Shut up!" I did not want to say it out loud, but I did. Frisk looked at me puzzled, so I quickly explained "Excuse me, I did not want to say that. I was talking with...well..." thankfully she understood what I was implying before I could finish phrasing it "Don't worry, I'm not mad at all! But you will sing, no matter what."

Since I could not refuse, I let Frisk teach me everything she knew about singing: she congratulated me, she said I had a beautiful voice, but she reprimanded me for not believing in myself; it was getting late, however, so I had to force her to stop and conducted her to her bedroom.

She slid under her bed's covers and returned to sleep

"Good night, Frisk." I saluted her.

"Good night, Asriel." she saluted in return.

I turned off the lights, exited the room and closed the door behind me. Now, I had to go to bed for real...the prospect of having another nightmare like the one I had a few hours before scared me, but I knew They would not have let me sleep in peace.  
I expected a long discussion that night, one that could only be conducted in my sleep.

" _ **Asriel, are you there?** "_

 _I could see Them right in front of me, They were dressed the same as me: a purple robe that extended all the way to the ground. Their face was exactly like back then, it looked like They never grew up at all: They had a similar face and complexion to Frisk's, but their hair was black and their pupils were deep red. Around us was darkness, there was obscurity everywhere I looked._

 _They wanted to talk, just as I had expected._

" _What do you want from me?" I asked, annoyed._

" _ **Look, we both hate ruining our sleep like this, so let's make this quick. We need to talk, Asriel, about you...and the human as well.** "_

 _Now that They mentioned Frisk, my desire for a conversation dropped drastically: I knew they did not like her, and I was not fine with that at all. However, I also knew They would not have permitted me to wake up until we were finished._

" _Come on, let us hear what you have to say. I am listening."_

" _ **You're always so formal, Asriel! You know there are things such as "abbreviated words", right? Like, "let's", "I'm"...expand your knowledge, goddammit!** " They ended the phrase with a chuckle, but I was not laughing at all._

" _ **Seriously though, I recommend you stay away from that girl...at least, you should stay away from her if you love her and care for her.** "_


	6. I don't want to let go

" _Are you even serious? Why should I do that?" I asked in disbelief._

 _Chara did not like how I asked that question, but They were not mad at all: in fact, their expression was calmer than ever, it had been a while since They last looked at me like that. That made me lower my guard, it must have been that._

" _ **You do realize that she can't stay here, right? That she'll eventually return to her world...** " a shiver ran down my spine as They continued " **Come on Asriel, haven't you noticed it yet? How you've grown so attached to her in so little time? She will leave, and you know that. She has to leave. You can't defy your fate...just like you can't defy your life. It's sad, that's true...but that's only because you let it be so.** "_

" _She will not leave me! She does not want to!" I cried once I heard my own words exit my mouth with a ferocity I did not thought possible._

" _ **What she wants doesn't matter, and you know that. Humans aren't made for the Underground, they're used to traveling far and wide across the world, they hate being stuck in one place. One day, she WILL ask you how to exit the Ruins...and your heart will break. But, if you force her out now, you might survive it.** " They waited a few seconds, They waited for me to pronounce words I was too afraid of saying. Since I was not going to say that phrase anytime soon, They decided to phrase it for me " **It has to be done. It's for her good.** "_

 _I cried: a deep, noiseless cry, that nobody will ever hear except Them " **Wipe those tears, Asriel. The sooner, the better.** "_

* * *

I slowly woke up, my face was still wet from the tears I spilled during sleep. I did not get up immediately because I was too busy contemplating on their words. What They said was true: eventually, Frisk would have left me...the question was, when?

I got up from bed and dressed, then I exited my bedroom and entered the bathroom: I washed my face, but the big smile that was on my face the other day had completely disappeared; I would have paid anything for a smile, even just a little one.

I looked at the timepiece: seven o'clock, AM. I walked all the way through my house and entered the kitchen: I was not in the mood to prepare breakfast, so I resorted to reheat a few biscuits I had cooked and left uneaten a few days prior. I put some on a big round plate for both of us to eat from, hoping it would have sufficed to satisfy the girl's appetite.

I mustered up the courage to go wake her up. I entered the room and looked at her from a distance: she was still smiling, but unfortunately that was not enough to calm me down. I approached her quietly and woke her up as gently as I could.

"Good morning, Asriel!" she energetically greeted me as she stretched her arms: weird, I thought, that was not how she initially greeted me the day before.

"Good morning, Frisk..." I greeted her, inexpressive. She must have understood something was up, as she looked questioningly at me and asked me what was wrong. I dodged the question "Breakfast is ready, Frisk. Shall we go?"

"Sure..." she got up from bed, but she was still looking at me worried. Poor girl.

We entered the living room and sat on the chairs: I was not hungry at all, but the girl was munching through those biscuits at lightning speed. However, when I counted she had eaten her fifteenth biscuit, I had yet to finish my first and only one.

"Wow, these cookies are amazing, Asriel! Did you bake them yourself?" she tried make me talk.

"E-Excuse me?" I was not paying attention, but I tried to answer the question nonetheless "Oh, yes I did...they are a few days old, but...uh..."

She dropped her biscuit and looked at me puzzled: I had never seen that look on her face before, she was almost...scared "Is...is something wrong, Asriel? Are you...ill or something?"

I was not sure I could answer that question: love was not an illness, but a skilled enough poet could have made it one. Still, I tried to explain myself the best I could "Frisk...I am afraid this is the last day you will spend with me."

She dropped her arms and looked at me scared "W-What do you mean?"

"You have spent too much time here, in the Underground. I think...it is about time you go back to whence you came from." the words flooded from my mouth like a river.

She could not believe what she had just heard "A-Asriel..p-please, I don't want to go! Why do I have to go?" she was about to cry, and I hated myself for bringing her to that point.

"Frisk...I am sorry, but..." once more, I found trying to find the right words rather difficult "...I would love to have you here, with me, but...that would be selfish. You have your own world to return to, a life to return to, a family to-"

"No, I don't!" she got up from her seat and shouted at me, tears streaming from her eyes all the way to the floor.

My heart's beat fastened: had I heard that right, I wondered? Could she...could what she was saying actually be true? Did she not have anyone to return to, someone who would have given her all the love she deserved?

* **Do you now see why did I not want you to befriend her? She can't accept her fate, and that's all thanks to you. She's gradually becoming more and more insane, and that's only because we keep feeding her with our emotions. The only way to let her understand the truth is to force it upon her.** * I understood what They were saying: that she was saying those things only because of her mental state, and I prayed with all of my heart that They were right. Still...I had this undying feeling that she was not lying at all.

"Frisk, please...it's already difficult enough...don't make it even harder...our meeting was fated, for sure...but our departure is as well. Please...understand..." I was crying and she was as well: however, while I was trying to keep my composure the best I could, she was not faring just as well. Despite how bad she felt, she managed in the end to nod slowly but certain.

I stood up and convinced her to do the same; I grabbed her hand with my paw and conducted her to the stairs in the antechamber, which led us to a dark basement. I summoned a black flame in my free hand to allow us to see better: I never went in that basement, so it was filthy and looked even older than it should have.

While we were walking, I tried to explain to the kid what she had to do in order to return home "Listen human, the Underground is made up of different areas: you must traverse all of them in order to reach the Royal Palace..." my heart's beat fastened a little bit as my whole body warmed up: that happened every time I thought of him...every time I thought of father "Beyond the castle is a barrier, which segregates the Underground from the Surface. It is difficult to pass through it, as you must possess a preposterous amount of power in order to do so, but..."

Frisk looked at me with hope in her eyes "Does this mean I can't get out? Then what's the point in sending me away if I can't get back?" now that she said it, I realized the hole in Chara's plan. I asked them for an explanation.

* **Look, it's been a long time since we've been stuck down here. Maybe they managed to weaken the barrier enough to permit humans to pass through it...or something like that.** *

*That seems like a stretch to me. Are you sure of what you are saying?* I inquired, dubious.

* **Come on, Asriel! Mom and Dad had that great scientist, did they? He was, like, super intelligent or something: he must have done something to the barrier by now!** * their answer did not convince me fully, but I had to accept it for what it was: an answer. I told Frisk she had nothing to worry about, that she would have made it to the Surface one way or the other: she limited herself to lowering her gaze and answer a lifeless "okay".

Eventually, we arrived at a door with the Delta Rune, the Underground's most notorious symbol, carved on it: it was reminiscent of an angelic figure, which shined with it's light on all of monsterkind.

"So...that's where I must go, right?" Frisk asked, unsure.

"Yes." I replied shortly.

"And you...aren't coming...are you?" she was about to cry once more, I could feel it.

"No." I was terrified at my own cruelty.

Frisk silently accepted my words, as she walked closer to the door: she approached the large entrance and looked upwards to admire the emblem carved upon the gate's surface.

Suddenly, she turned around and sentenced, frank "No."

Did I hear that right? "W-What do you mean with "no"?"

"No, I refuse to go. I want to stay here, with you." she calmly explained.

I tried to make her reason "You cannot stay with me! You have to return to your own world!"

"No, I don't have to! I don't have any reason at all to do it!" she angrily answered.

"Please...it's already difficult enough...I do not want to suffer any more than I have to!" I could not handle the current situation at all, I thought I could have kept my cool but I was, oh, so wrong.

"Asriel...I won't leave you behind. I refuse to. Whatever happened, happens and will happen...I am determined to stay here, with you." those words made my head spin: something about them...did not feel right.

I needed some kind of help, I did not want to leave her at all; help arrived, but it was the kind I was not expecting * **I expected things to take this turn: you don't want to leave her, she doesn't want to leave you. Amazing, isn't it? How convenient the only person capable of acting rationally right now is none other than me...** * I shivered as I heard their voice expand in my head, inebriating me like an alcoholic beverage ***Since you can't bring yourself to do it, why don't you let me handle the matter at hand? If you give me control, I promise I will give it back once we're done: deal?***

I did not know what to do: I was tempted to second the human's proposal, and be with her forever...but my mind tried to convince me that it was better to leave her alone, that she needed to live her life on her own.

I...I...I decided to trust them. They were my sibling, They would have never hurt her...right?

* **Excellent choice. I knew I could count on you, friend.** * I felt like I was sinking in a bottomless pit: just like in the dream I had the night before, the darkness was everywhere, surrounding me in an ocean of bliss. I could still see what happened outside...but I soon recognized I was not the one moving my own body anymore. I immediately regretted my decision: that was not the wisest choice I had ever made.

" **Hello there!** " Frisk knew from the very moment They began talking she was not dealing with me anymore " **It's been quite some time since we last talked, has it not? I am sorry for what happened yesterday, I do not make the best first impressions...so, let us begin again, shall we? My name...is Chara Dreemurr.** " Frisk was still crying, but...that look on her face...something was up " **Do not worry, I already know your name so...let us get to the point. You do not want to leave, do you? How unfortunate...because I am not asking you to. We never asked for your arrival, but we will ask for your departure. Either you go through that door of your own...or I will force you to. And, believe me dear, I am extremely good at making people do what they do not want to.** " silence. Frisk was not saying anything, so They finally asked " **Your decision, lad?** "

"You want me to choose, huh?" Frisk spoke with a cold, freezing voice that would have made my blood chill in my veins...if I had blood or veins. I felt like her emotions were about to burst all at once "I choose to stay here, with Asriel. You're not him, you can't speak for him! I know he wants to stay with me just as I want to stay with him! I won't get out of this...Underground or whatever without him! I won't let you get in my way! I won't let anyone get in my way! I will live my own life like I want to, goddammit!" she furiously ranted.

Chara's prediction from the other day had come true: I had dug her own grave.

It took a while for them to reply: they maliciously chuckled as They said **"Oh, that's a shame...for you, that is. And here I thought I could have let you leave without breaking my sibling's poor, sensible heart...but I, I will be enjoying this. A lot. Be sure not to go down in one hit, lad."**

I felt black flames appear all around me, even though I could not see them directly. Frisk dried her tears as a pink glow emanated from her chest: her Soul exited her body and positioned right behind her, while a timer that started at 5:00 appeared above her head.

" **Five minutes, huh? Even that timer of yours knows who you are going up against!** "

[Touhou Mutsuigeki - Concealed the Conclusion: U.N. Owen was Her? ( watch?v=-smfOfRWQ5E)]

The countdown started. The flames were launched at her speedily, but she managed to dodge them all with ease and with grace: for the whole duration of the attack, she did not stop looking at me at once...no, she was not looking at me: she was looking inside of me, as if she could see me struggling to regain control and stop Chara's insensible attack.

" **Good dodging, lad! But that won't save you from what I have in store for you...** "

More flames appeared all around me before being shot at the human at high speed: despite how impossible avoiding that attack seemed, she did so without even trying. In fact, she was using so little of her energy she could even talk while fighting "Let me ask you a question." They did not stop attacking, but They did not stop her from asking "Why exactly do you want me to leave?"

" **What an interesting question! I could go on about how you do not belong here and all that useless junk...but that's not the correct answer at all. The truth is: you make me sick. You keep pretending this is nothing more than a joke, or a game...while it clearly is not. This world is cruel: all it does is take from you insensibly and never give back anything. You are a kid, you have to be educated so you will not cry when you will lose everything. And besides...I am trying to protect my sibling from you: you are ruining everything I have done up until now to ensure his safety! So, stop talking and DIE!** "

She dodged another barrage of flames that arrived from her sides by jumping and masterfully spinning in the air, making Them even more infuriated.

"So, you don't want me to leave: you want me dead."

" **You will not leave, will you? Then, this is the only other option I can think of.** "

I feared for her, I knew this was going to happen...but I let it happen nonetheless *Please Chara, do not do this! I never wished for this!*

" **Why won't you get it, Asriel? Now that you let her in your heart, she will never leave it! You will keep thinking of her, every day, every hour, every minute and every second! "Where is she?" "What is she doing?" "Is she still alive?": I can already imagine you doing this all day long! But I will not let you, I will give you a straight answer to all of these questions: she will be DEAD!** " as They said this, I noticed my arms were aflame: that could only mean that their rage had reached new, unprecedented heights.

"What you're doing is substituting suffering with other suffering: if I die, he will be sad for as long as he'll live and, even worse, he'll keep thinking it was his fault even though it was clearly yours!"

Only then They realized They were thinking aloud, but They kept doing so nonetheless " **It does not matter! He will get over it, eventually! You are just a human: there are countless like you, what makes you so special he will think about you forever? Nothing!** " as they kept ranting while attacking the human, I looked at the clock: two minutes had already gone by, I had to wait only three more minutes before that timer reached zero. Since I could not break free from their control, at least I did not think I was capable of doing so, I prayed that timer could have done something to save her. I hoped so with all my heart.

" **You still do not get it, do you, Asriel? Prayers are useless. Hope is ineffective. You cannot defy reality, and you cannot avoid fate! She is doomed to die, sooner or later!** " They looked at the human with angry, raging eyes " **Keep dodging all you want, human! See what good it does for you!** " concentric rings of dark fire surrounded the human, leaving little to no room for dodging " **Dodge this, lad!** " the rings closed in on the human, one at a time: Frisk, however, was not preoccupied by that at all. She dodged every single ring by either jumping, strafing or ducking, making my sibling even madder each time she avoided one of their attacks " **Oh, for fuck's sake: die, you swine!** " They retried using that pattern: their anger fueled our magic, making the attacks much faster and powerful. Despite that, Frisk managed to avoid each single ring without trouble.

The timer was steadily decreasing: it was now at less than two minutes, which made me incredibly joyous. There was a chance, which I originally thought was small but that was rising in likelihood every time she dodged one of Chara's attacks, that Frisk could survive that assault!

Chara, on the other hand, was not faring as well: They were sweating everywhere, They knew They were losing and They hated it.

Pillars of dark fire descended fast from the ceiling, trying to crush Frisk under their weight and heat: just like every attack They used before, this one failed as well. Repeating the pattern was useless and They knew it, but They tried nonetheless, faster and stronger: a useless waste of magic, that's how I would describe their attempts. They were literally doing, if I am allowed use such a vulgar expression, shit.

The girl began laughing, mocking the entity that was trying to kill her with a child-like innocent laugh "You know what? I expected more from you. You looked powerful yesterday, but perhaps I misinterpreted. You're not strong, you're pathetic."

" **Pathetic? Me? How dare you, you insolent...little...bitch!** " I felt a massive energy flowing inside of me: They were preparing something big, something huge...something even she could not possibly resist " **DIE!** " a gigantic ball of dark fire appeared above me, and I know that because Chara looked at it in awe and admiration: a sphere so big it could have never been avoided, since I knew it would have gotten even wider once They shot it at her. If that attack were cast, well...she would have died for sure, unless she ran away through the gate behind her.

And while Chara began laughing the same way Frisk did before, rejoicing in their overwhelming power, Frisk looked at me like she did the first time we met: she idled, powerless, as she tried to talk to the good side in me "What do you want, Asriel? Do you think the same as them? If you do, then please, be the one to use it against me."

Twenty seconds left.

" **Shut up, lad! Whatever you say does not matter! You-** "

"But, if you believe in what I believe in, then please, fight back!" she yelled as passionately as she could.

Fifteen seconds left.

" **Come on, Asriel! I will finish what I started, even if you won't let me!** "

"Come on, Asriel! We can do this, together!"

" **Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP! DIE!** "

...But nothing happened. The attack was never shot.

" **W-What?** "

I did not regain full control over my body, but someway, somehow, I managed to stop the attack. My gaze turned towards Frisk, who was grinning at me happily as the timer reached zero "Game over, Chara."

I cannot recall exactly what happened next: all I remember is that I was struck by some kind of...pink energy (no, I am not joking at all). I blacked out for an instant and when I finally regained my senses I also realized I was in control once more. I noticed I was sitting against a wall and that Frisk was looking at me worried from right in front of me.

"Asriel, are you alright?" she asked, terrified.

"Yes, I am alright..." I managed to spell as I got up from the ground.

Tears were streaming down my face once more as I tried to apologize "I am sorry, Frisk...really, really sorry. I promise you...it will not happen again..."

Frisk was crying just as I was, and from the looks of it she was sorry as well "Asriel...I'm sorry too...I know you wanted me to leave but...I...I..." I hushed her as I held her closer to me "No, that's not what...Frisk, I do love you...I really do...but I am scared, I am afraid of what I might do to you..."

"Asriel, I don't want to leave you...I don't want to, I don't..." she could not even finish that phrase, her sobbing was increasing drastically. I did not want to leave her either...but Chara quickly brought me to reality * **You know she can't stay here: she has to return to her world. If you truly love her...you'll take this into consideration.** *

*Maybe I will...but not in the way you would like.* I replied to them as I regained my composure and tried to be brave "Frisk, I know you want to stay with me...frankly, I want that as well. But I cannot leave you here, with me...you would eventually feel trapped, here, in the Ruins...if I cannot return you to the Surface, I will at least bring you somewhere you will feel safe and loved. To do so, we will have to proceed through that door..."

She asked, surprised and excited "We? Are you coming with me?"

"Of course, my dear. I have to protect you, after all."

She started jumping all around the room, running from a corner to the next and expressing her joy in a million different ways, all of which melted my heart "Anyways, we should prepare ourselves. The voyage we are about to embark on is rather long and somewhat dangerous. Let us return upstairs, for now."

As we walked all the way through the corridor, I heard Chara's voice once more * **Clever. Very clever. You think you're so smart, don't you? I've protected you for so long...and this... this is how you repay me?** *

*From what have you protected me, I wonder?* I inquired ironic.

* **You're so naive, Asriel...if I told you, you wouldn't understand. If you want to ruin your life like this, then that's fine...but, when you finally realize the true reason why I wanted our solitude...well, don't say I didn't warn you. Okay?** * I nodded to their words, but in disbelief. A new chapter in my life was about to begin...if only I knew that beforehand...


	7. Snowland (part 1): Skeletons

" _Are you having fun, Chara?"_

" _ **Of course not, you idiot!** " They angrily replied._

 _We were surrounded by snow, there were so many activities we could have partook in...and yet, They did not want to do anything. They were wasting our only opportunity to have some fun outside of the castle, and I was determined to have some fun with them before we returned home "What's wrong with you Chara? You have not done anything yet...are you ill or something?"_

" _ **What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you!** " I did not expect that reply " **Why would I ever want to have "fun"? The more I have fun, the more I'll regret leaving this place! Please, Asriel, stop trying to entertain me because you're wasting your time!** "_

 _I stayed quiet for a while, I almost decided to leave Them alone and try and have some fun by myself...then an idea popped in my head: I sat on my knees and formed a snowball; I smirked as I suddenly got up and showed it to my sibling, whose expression had darkened a little bit " **Oh, is that it? You won't do it.** " my grin got wider " **You won't dare...** " even wider " **You will regret this.** "_

 _I tossed the ball at Them, but They managed to avoid it at the last possible second " **That's it: you're dead, Asriel!** "_

 _I quickly prepared another ball and launched it at Chara while They were still creating theirs: it hit Them right in the head, which prompted a sonorous laugh from me...while I was laughing, another snowball hit my stomach. I knew this meant war._

 _We played like that for an hour at least, at least until our parents arrived to bring us home: I am still not sure how Mom managed to make us stop, but then again Mom was very...persuasive. When They thought our parents were not looking at us, Chara slapped me in the face "Ouch! What was that for?"_

" _ **For lettting me have "fun". Thanks a lot, you idiot...** " They tried to look angered, but I knew They were happy under that facade of theirs._

" _You are welcome, do not worry..." I said as we returned home._

* * *

It took a few minutes to prepare for the voyage: I stuffed a few snacks in my robe and told Frisk to wear winter clothes, as we were going somewhere very cold. She simply took a few clothes that were once theirs: a blue shirt, a green and yellow jacket, brown jeans and brown boots. At first They were a bit angry about it, but They quickly cooled off after I reminded Them that They were dead. Once we thought we were ready, we walked through that dark corridor once more and went through that gigantic gate at the end: there was no turning back now. After yet another corridor, we were met by another huge door: this one, I was sure of it, led to the real Underground.

After spending a few seconds preparing myself emotionally, I opened the gigantic door: I found myself in a snow-covered forest, everywhere I looked there was either the candid white of the snow or the natural brown of the trees' bark. Just as I had expected.

Frisk walked a few steps forward...but she was not having fun at all: in fact, after a few seconds, she pulled her hands over her ears and screamed at the top of her lungs as she dropped to the ground; I did not know what was happening, it reminded me a lot of an anxiety attack...that would have explained what had happened in the Ruins the day prior...but what I was seeing was at least a hundred times worse than what I had witnessed in the past.

As she started hiccuping endlessly, I ran up to her and tried to wake her up from what looked like a living nightmare...to no avail.

Chara advised me * **Slap her! It works, usually...** *

*I cannot slap her! She is a girl...not to mention she is still a child...* I was scared of hurting her and what scared me even more was that Chara could be trying to manipulate me into doing so.

* **You're free to do as you please, Asriel...I'm just saying that talking to her won't do her any good...** * maybe They were right...but I could not hurt Frisk!

However, I could not tolerate seeing her like that...so I slapped her anyway on her right cheek: her crying diminished, her hiccuping slowed, her tears were streaming down a bit slower as well. For a second, I thought horrified that I could have hit her too strongly.

She tried to keep her composure as she looked at me in the eyes "That was a bit rough..." exactly what I was afraid of, I did not know how to control my own strength... "...But thanks. I needed it."

"Do not worry, Frisk." I reassured her "But, could you please tell me why are you acting like this?"

"I...I don't..." she was about to burst in tears once more, and I needed to stop her before she could "Frisk, if you want me to help you...you have to tell me what scares you."

"There's...too much...space..." that made me even more confused, but she quickly added "Too much...air...empty spaces...everything here is...too big..." she suffered asthma, but she tried her best to explain herself.

"So, if I got it correctly, you are...afraid of open areas?" she nodded, and I was a bit proud of my deductive skills; however, I still needed to help the human to the best of my abilities "If you are afraid of open areas, then try to concentrate on what's right in front of you. Do not look in the distance and, unless you really have to, do not divert your gaze from the ground." as I told her what she needed to do, she asked me "Can I...can I please hold you hand?"

I was a bit hesitant at first, but I quickly gave the girl my paw to hold: she held it like it were the dearest thing to them in the world, and she quickly returned back to her normal self.

Now that she could finally observe the environment in her vicinity, she finally realized she was not standing on normal grass "Is this...snow? Real snow?"

"Of course, Frisk...why, have you never seen snow before?" I asked her curious.

"I did see snow before...but I never touched it myself...I've always watched it fall to the ground from behind the glass of a window..." she wanted to touch the snow with her hand, I had to crouch to permit her to do so: I looked at her happily as she grabbed as much frozen water as she could and tried to hold it for as long as she could in her palm "It's cold, it's soft, it's delicate...it's wonderful! I've waited so much for this moment...I never thought it would've come..."

She toyed with the snow for a few minutes before I decided it was time to move forward: there was only one passage ahead of us, so there was not much choice as to where to proceed. As we were walking in that dark, snowy forest Frisk told me "You know, since always calling you Asriel got a bit boring, I invented a nickname for you!"

She was excited...but I was not as excited as she was "A nickname...may I ask what nickname you gave me?"

"From now on, I'll be calling you..." she imitated the sound of a drumroll before announcing "My goat-bro!"

"My what?" the thought of her calling me like that every two seconds was unbearable to say the least...I still had to figure out what goats were! But she looked so happy, she really liked that nickname...I told her I was fine with that, which made Chara laugh like They never did * **You do realize how ridiculous that nickname is, right? Oh my, I never thought you would've lowered yourself like that just to please a puny, insignificant, ungrateful human...** *

*Stop insulting her, Chara!* as I told my sibling that, we carefully avoided stepping on a robust tree branch lying in the road. Frisk insisted that it would have brought us bad luck, and I was no-one to argue the opposite. We traveled for what I believe was ten seconds before we heard a noise coming from behind us: the stick that we did not want to break...broke.

"A-Asriel...sticks don't break by themselves, do they?" Frisk was even more scared than before, if that were possible.

"No, they do not...stay close to me." I invited her to never let go of my hand, and she did not protest at all; I was afraid we were about to be attacked by one, two...maybe dozens of monsters like those in the Ruins: I knew that monsters liked friendly disputes...but I was afraid one of them could have hurt Frisk without even wanting to. Just to be sure, I summoned a few black flames in front of us in case someone did ambush us.

We sped up our walking, but we soon heard other noises coming from...everywhere around us: however, whenever I turned to see who was making these noises, I saw nothing out of the ordinary. There was no way we were imagining things...was it?

After a few minutes of running, we saw a ravine blocking the way: the only way to get through it was an old wooden bridge suspended above the abyss. As we were traversing it, I felt something happen to me: I immediately realized I could no longer move, no matter how hard I tried. Frisk had the same problem, she no longer had control over her own body.

As we tried to figure out a way to break free from that invisible bound, I heard a grave voice whisper from behind "Human...don't you know how to greet a new pal? Turn around and shake my hand..." whoever it was, I was sure it was that monster who stalked us in the forest before: I wanted to warn Frisk not to follow the monster's orders, but she had already turned around and was about to shake the monster's hand.

* **Well, would you look at that! Seems like that child's going to-** * Chara's thoughts were interrupted by a fake farting noise, similar to the ones coming from those whoopee cushions my classmates at school used to pull pranks on their teachers * **...To...to...what the heck was that?** *

I realized I could move once again, so I immediately turned around and discovered who the monsters we were dealing with was: a skeleton monster, an unusual species as far as I knew; he was short, slightly higher than Frisk to be precise, he wore a blue jacket, black shorts and pink slippers...

*Who would ever dress like that in this freezing weather!* I yelled in my head, earning no reply from my sibling. His empty eyesockets had white lights perpetually glowing within them: I imagined those lights acted as eyes for him. What unsettled me the most was his huge, almost creepy grin that was like stuck on his face.

"Heheh...the old whoopee cushion in the hand trick. It never gets old." when he spoke, his mouth did not move. That made him even more unsettling.

He let go of Frisk's hand revealing precisely what I expected: an orange whoopee cushion; I had not seen such a gadget in years, and that only brought back horrible, embarrassing memories.

"Anyways, you're a human right? I'm Sans, Sans the skeleton." he presented himself.

Frisk chuckled nervously and greeted him "Uh, hello! My name is Frisk, and he is..."

"Don't worry kiddo!" he exclaimed as he got closer to me: he stopped right in front of me, and for a second the lights in his eyesockets disappeared, leaving only obscurity in them " . . ."

I gulped as some kind of unknown fear crushed me like a gigantic boulder made of sins. That only lasted a second, however, as the skeleton's eyes returned to normal soon afterwards as he explained "You're her goat-bro, right? That's how she called you in the forest, after all..."

That sentence made all my fears disappear in an instant...but it also made me much angrier "Yes, about that..." dark flames surrounded the skeleton, encircling it with their dark heat.

"Asriel, could you please stop?" Frisk looked concerned "This isn't the right thing to do at all..."

"H-Hey, is it hot in here or is it just me" the skeleton fanned his skull with his right hand while he used the left one to tug his shirt "I just wanted to warn you about my brother..."

"Your brother?" I decided to calm down a little bit and extinguish the flames: that monster did not look dangerous...despite the sudden outburst of a few seconds earlier.

"Yes, my brother...Papyrus...he's been acting weird lately: he keeps blabbing about "capturing humans" and stuff like that, and he...well, it's not something I would expect from him. He's a nice fella, you know, but...lately, he's acting weird and I'm worried..." the monster looked legitimately scared, his tone had shifted a little and he, whether he could feel it or not, was sweating copiously: I asked Frisk if she believed the skeleton, to which she answered affirmatively.

If what Sans was saying were correct, then... "Tell me, Sans, is your brother...dangerous?" I asked as I cracked my fist.

"Not really, he's the nicest...oh, I think that's him over there." I saw someone...something approaching us at high speed from a distance: what a perfect opportunity to find out how dangerous his brother was "That's great! Let me introduce myself to him..."

Sweat covering his skull in it's entirety, the skeleton tried to keep his composure while suggesting "Uh, why don't you...uh... _throw me a bone_ and..." he pointed at a nearby construction made in wood a few feet ahead; strangely enough, there was a lamp shaped similarly to Frisk near it "...Yeah, why don't you hide behind that conveniently-placed sentry post? It would be great if you could just...hide...for now..."

"Why should I do that?" I inquired, suspicious "You seem to have-"

"Oh, come on Asriel! Think of it as a game of hide-and-seek!" Frisk grabbed me and asked me to hide behind that...sentry post or whatever; careful the skeleton did not notice her, she whispered as quietly as she could "Besides, don't you want to observe this "brother" of his from a distance before meeting him in person?"

* **The girl is smart...** * They observed.

I sighed as I exclaimed"Fine! I will comply..."

"Thanks buddy, I owe you one..." Sans wiped off the sweat on his forehead with his jacket's sleeve.

I hid behind that extremely small building with Frisk, who had the decency of avoiding to hide behind that weird lamp; for some reason, the whole construction smelled of condiments of all kinds.

As I spied on the main road, something approached Sans at high speed: another skeleton, but this one was much taller than the one we had met before. In all honesty, he was even taller than me! He wore...some kind of uniform: a white chest-plate, an orange scarf, blue boxers, orange gloves and orange boots.

As he spoke to his brother, I had to cover my ears: he was unnecessarily loud...extremely loud in fact "BROTHER! IT'S BEEN A WHOLE DAY AND YOU'RE STILL DOING NOTHING! TODAY, I'VE ASKED YOU AT LEAST TEN TIMES TO HELP ME AND YOU TURNED DOWN ALL MY OFFERS! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO CAPTURE A HUMAN IF MY OWN BROTHER DOESN'T HELP ME?"

Sans replied in a cheerful and yet low tone "Sorry Pap, I just...had a ton of work to do."

The tall skeleton cocked an inexistant brow "HOW MUCH WORK WOULD YOU...?" he suddenly realized something "OH NO..."

"I had a skele-ton of work!" evidently, this skeleton had a thing for wordplay: Frisk seemed to like Sans's jokes, while his skeleton (and even I to be honest) did not like them at all "SANS! STOP BEING A LAZYBONES AND HELP ME CAPTURE A HUMAN!"

Sans looked puzzled as he turned towards us "Uh, Pap...why do you want to capture a human again? You know there aren't humans down here, right?"

The tall skeleton did not look worried at all "IT DOESN'T MATTER! THEY'LL FALL DOWN HERE EVENTUALLY!" he then answered the first question "YOU SEE, I NEED A HUMAN TO MAKE LOTS OF FRIENDS!"

Sans was even more confused now, and so was I "Uh, so...you want to capture a human to make them your friend?" he was almost...relieved, in some way.

However, his brother did not want to capture Frisk for that reason "ABSOLUTELY NOT: A FRIEND OF MINE TOLD ME THAT THE ONLY WAY TO MAKE MORE FRIENDS WAS TO CAPTURE A HUMAN!" that sentence made the short skeleton shiver in his clothes "...What friend, Papyrus?"

"OH, HE'S A WONDERGUL GUY I MET A FEW DAYS AGO! I'M SURE YOU TWO WOULD BE GREAT FRIENDS! ANYWAY, I NEED TO GO: MY PUZZLES WON'T PREPARE THEMSELVES!" the skeleton turned around and left the area as quickly as he entered it, disappearing from our sight in mere instants.

"You can come out now: he's not coming back..." Sans assured us as we came out of our hiding spot and approached him slowly; he kept on looking in the direction his brother had run towards "You know, as a brother, I care a lot about Papyrus. He's the most optimistic person I know, and he deserves some happiness every now and then." he turned towards us, a calm look on his face "So, could you do me a favor? Papyrus really wants to see a human so..."

"You want me to let him capture Frisk?" I asked angrily "You do realize how stupid that plan is?"

* **Why? That's an amazing idea! We can leave her with that psychopath and-** *

*I will never give Frisk to that guy!* I yelled at them.

* **Wow, you've sank even deeper than I thought...** * They sighed * **I guess it's too late for turning back, huh?** *

"Hey, I do know it sounds dangerous..." Sans's voice returned me to reality "...But trust me, Pap isn't dangerous at all. You, on the other hand..." his eyesockets turned empty once more as he whispered, making sure Frisk could not hear him "...You're pretty dangerous, I can tell. If I find out you hurt Papyrus...you're gonna have a bad time..." before Frisk could realize what was going on, his eyes had returned to normal as his voice did "So, we have a deal yes or no?"

I was unsure, even a bit scared...I had risked a lot just by arriving there, so I thought there was no point in being afraid of risking now "Fine, I will play by your rules..."

"Thanks. I owe you one." he looked excited...but something about his voice did not completely convince me. I wanted to ask him more questions, but he quickly walked towards the sentry post and hid behind it: when I went looking for him, he had disappeared.

"What the..." I controlled my language fearing for Frisk's reaction "...Anyway, shall we go? There is nothing left for us here."

I grabbed Frisk's hand once more as we kept on walking down the snowy path. Soon, we reached an intersection: we could either keep going forward or deviate to the left. Frisk decided to go to the left, but we soon realized it was a dead end: the path was blocked by a streaming river.

"Frisk, why would you ever want to come here?" I asked, puzzled "There's nothing interesting...unless you want to swim in the river, which I would not recommend..."

"You're wrong!" she exclaimed "Look, there's a fishing pole over there!" she was right, a fishing pole was stuck in the ground near the river; the fishhook was still floating in the river, uncontrolled. Whoever possessed that fishing pole had gone away a long time ago, I imagined.

Still, I did not find that even barely interesting "Again: why would you ever want us to come here?

"I dunno, it looked interesting from afar..." she approached the fishing pole and retracted the fishing line without me authorizing her to "Hey, stop! It is not yours!" I ordered as I approached her as quickly as I could.

My futile attempts to stop the human were for naught, as she managed to recover the hook from the cold water: a picture of an ugly monster was attached to the hook. On the other side of the card were the words "Call me! Here's my number:" followed by a long number I do not nor wish to remember.

"Why should we "call" this monster? Also, what is the purpose of this "number" over here?" I admit, I was very ignorant on modern technology. Sure, lots of gadgets were produced each year back when I was a child...but I had never heard of cellphones before.

"Have you never heard of cellphones before?" the human looked at me confused.

"What is a cellphone?" I asked, curious.

"Well, it's a device that humans commonly use to communicate between themselves from a distance..." what an incredibly detailed and precise description for a cheerful girl like her "...Seriously, have you never seen one before?"

"I am not sure: I am not on pair with the Underground's most recent technological discoveries, but I do know there is a way for human's junk to fall down here, in the Underground. It is very well possible that one of these "cellphones" might have fallen down here and that our scientists have reverse engineered it to adapt it to monsterkind's necessities."

"Wow, and I thought my explanation was technical!" the girl chuckled as she threw the hook with that photo attached to it back in the river "Come on, we've yet to explore this place as we should!"

We walked back to the intersection: this time, we took the road to our left, the one that was originally in front of us. After not even ten seconds of walking, we spotted the two brothers talking with one another: as soon as we got close, they turned towards us.

The tall skeleton could not contain his enthusiasm "OH MY GOD! SANS...IS THAT...A HUMAN?" dear Lord, he was so loud...I wish I had brought headphones when I first exiled myself to the Ruins: they would have made the journey towards the barrier much less troublesome...

* **You do realize he just ignored you, right?** * Chara was as sharp as ever.

"Pap, I think that's a rock..." the short skeleton pointed somewhere behind us: when I turned around, I saw a small white rock that could have easily been mistaken for a small pile of snow. Originally, I thought that was a joke...until I heard Papyrus sigh "OH...UH...YOU'RE RIGHT..."

"Hey, what's that in front of the rock?" this time, Sans pointed directly at us. Not only was he fooling around with his brother, but also with us. That unnerved me immensely.

"OH MY GOD! SANS...IS THAT...A HUMAN?" Papyrus asked the question exactly like he did a few seconds earlier.

"Yes." his brother simply replied.

"SANS! OH. MY. GOD. I'M SO HAPPY RIGHT NOW!" the tall skeleton could not control his excitement: he kept on spinning around as if that were the happiest day of his whole life.

Unhappy to be ignored, I yelled "You're forgetting about someone!" I pointed my right index finger at myself, just to make it clearer.

"OH, WELL. YOU'RE THERE TOO, I SUPPOSE." was he making fun of me or something?

"ANWYAY, GREETINGS, HUMAN AND...UH..." he nervously asked "WHAT'S YOUR NAME AGAIN?"

"How...dare you! My name is-"

"His name is goat-bro." Sans interrupted me "Say hi Pap."

"BUT OF COURSE! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WELCOME YOU IN SNOWDIN! ARE YOU HERE WITH THE HUMAN?" he eyes Frisk suspiciously for a second before turning his attention back to me.

"Of course I am!" I yelled at him; even though I was yelling, my voice was still several tones lower than the skeleton's "Why do you ask?

The lights in Papyrus's eyesockets burned with fiery determination"BECAUSE THAT HUMAN IS MY FIRST-CLASS TICKET TO FRIENDSHIP! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, SHALL CAPTURE HER AND CLAIM WHAT IS MINE!" he was not done with his speech: he put his right hand on his chest and added "HOWEVER, CAPTURING YOU NOW WOULDN'T BE FAIR! SO, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, CHALLENGE YOU, HUMAN, TO A PUZZLE DUEL! IF YOU MANAGE TO OVERCOME MY CHALLENGES AND SOLVE MY PUZZLES, I WILL LET YOU LEAVE UNHARMED!"

"Hello? Excuse me? I am still here!" I shouted at the skeleton, who looked at me puzzled "I do not understand what does Frisk has to do with your "happiness" or whatever: you will not lay a finger on her for as long as I live and breath!"

My challenging tone, instead of scaring the monster, made him even more determined "NYEH HEH HEH! I KNEW THIS WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN EASY BUT..." he kept on rambling for a few minutes, and for the whole time I kept asking myself: was that a laugh?

* **If it was, it was the worst laugh I have ever heard in my life.** * Chara admitted * **Can we kill this guy? He's already getting on my nerves...** * for once, I was fine with their decision.

"SO, HUMAN, WHAT DO YOU SAY? DO YOU ACCEPT MY CHALLENGE?"

"If we accept?" I asked, sarcastic "We-"

"We accept your challenge!" Frisk shouted at the skeleton; I felt dizzy for a second as the human asked for my approval. I swear, in that moment, I could have killed someone: thankfully, my mind managed to prevail on my instincts just in time to participate in this skeleton's "game".

"WOWIE! I AM SO EXCITED!" he returned to his jumping and spinning "I HAVE WAITED SO LONG FOR THIS MOMENT!" his expression shifted for a second as he admitted "...A WEEK OR SO TO BE EXACT." he then turned to us once more "ANYWAY, IT'S TIME TO LET THE GAMES BEGIN! PROCEED DOWN THIS TRACK...IF YOU DARE! NYEH HEH HEH!" the tall skeleton was about to leave, but he stopped once he noticed that something was ringing inside his brother's jacket's pocket "A CALL? SANS, YOU NEVER RECEIVE CALLS FROM ANYONE..."

"Nobody's calling me, Pap." the skeleton reassured as he got something out of his pocket: a rectangular, oddly-colored device that Frisk recognized as a "cellphone". She admitted, though, that it looked like an old model to her.

Sans began fiddling with the device until, without warning, his skull became as white and pale as the snow around him: his breath intensified, the lights in his eyesockets disappeared and he looked like he was about to pass out.

"SANS? IS SOMETHING WRONG?" Papyrus asked worried.

"P-Pap...c-could you p-please capture the human by yourself?" odd: Sans never stuttered before. Something dire must have happened "I-I have some t-things I need to do..." he put his phone back in his jacket's pocket and ran behind a nearby tree as fast as he could: as soon as he got behind that tree, he completely disappeared, leaving only us three in that part of the forest.

"WELL, IT SEEMS AS THOUGH MY BROTHER DITCHED ME! HOW UNFAIR!" he stomped the ground below him "DO I REALLY HAVE TO DO EVERYTHING BY MYSELF? WHO CARES: I WILL SHOW HIM I DON'T HAVE TO RELY ON HIM FOR EVERYTHING!" he turned backwards and took off at supersonic speed, rapidly disappearing from our sight.

"I knew this voyage would have been awkward..." I commented "But this...this is plain nonsense!"

"Which isn't bad!" Frisk pointed out "Meeting new people is fun!" she became sad all of a sudden "...At least, I think it is..." that only lasted a second as she quickly regained her usual joyous attitude and reminded me we needed to move on.

As we walked down the snow-covered path in the forest, I kept thinking about how that small skeleton's attitude completely shifted in a few seconds: something bad must have happened indeed for him to act like that.

However, I had to focus on other, more pressing matters: there was a kid that needed to be delivered to the barrier, whoever was waiting for her on the Surface had to be at least a little bit worried of her sudden disappearance.


	8. Bad Times Approaching

_**A few days before...**_

* * *

 _I was reading for the umpteenth time "Jokes and puns for everyone on everything", one of the best-selling books about jokes and puns in the whole Underground, when I heard my brother Papyrus call me from downstairs: he mentioned something about "finding a friend" and ran outside. Now, I would've been worried if I didn't already know that his "adventures", as he called them, usually ended up with him building another snowman in the forest and acting as if they were a real person._

 _Since Pap wouldn't have returned home until dinner, I felt like it was the perfect time to start working. I exited the house, then walked around it until I was in front of the "secret door"...to be honest, I never quite understood how Pap never found that door. Or anyone else, for that matter._

 _I unlocked the door with the key I always kept in my pocket and opened it: I entered a room that wasn't connected to the actual house, some sort of small warehouse where I kept everything that I found...useful. Some old documents, journals, blueprints...I even managed to salvage a few machines from the old laboratory, but I had forgotten how to use them appropriately. After years spent crying, you forget everything you knew about the sciences._

 _I should've cleaned that place, I thought. However, if I had a coin for every time I thought that and didn't do it, I would've been even richer than the King._

 _I closed the door: nobody knew about that room, and nobody had to._

 _I approached a big piece of furniture standing in a corner and opened the last drawer: I searched for a small hidden button near the end and pressed it. The wall right in front of the entrance slid into the ground, revealing a staircase leading downwards, further inside the edifice._

 _The room at the end of the stairs was rather small, there was barely enough space for a small desk, an even smaller chair, a pile of papers on top of the desk and tons of screens on the wall in front of the desk: every screen was connected to a strategically-placed camera. I had placed them years before in a few...key locations in the Underground I knew she would've visited._

 _Only a few days left, I thought, only a few days left before freedom comes._

 _Or death._

 _My gaze fell on the screen showing the bed of flowers in the Ruins, the bed of flowers the human would've fell on top of: one of the flowers, the one right in the middle of the flowerbed, was becoming...taller, and bigger and...brighter. I began to sweat as a small pair of eyes and a big grin formed on the flower's middle section._

 _That wasn't right._

 _That wasn't expected._

 _The flower was looking at the hole in the ceiling, at the moment, but then it turned to the camera...or better, to me: his gaze was piercing through the screen, he was following my every movement through the camera...how could he..._

 _The screen went black._

" _What the hell was that?" I murmured, incapable to believe what just happened._

 _Then, the screen turned on by itself: the flower was right in front of the camera, smiling...or better, grinning at me with that...fucking face of his...if I had a heart, it would've stopped beating._

" _This...this can't be happening..." I shouted at the wind as I held my skull with my bony hands._

 _The camera turned off and then turned on immediately after: he was gone. No, he wasn't: he was now in Snowdin, in Waterfall, in Hotland...he was everywhere. Everywhere, everywhere, everywhere...I wanted to wake up, wake up from that nightmare._

 _Until, after appearing everywhere he could've appeared, he disappeared from all the screens: I had entertained him sufficiently, he didn't have a reason to keep playing with me anymore. I had been a decent toy for the time being._

 _I feared for Papyrus, for the human who had yet to come, for everyone living in the Underground: there was no way that plant could exist, the events that led to it's birth never ensued in that timeline...that plant was an anomaly, a dangerous anomaly that had to be eliminated._

* * *

 _ **Back to the present...**_

* * *

I ran to the basement as fast as I could: I was bathing in sweat, which derived both from the scare I took a few moments before and from my lack of exercise. Why was I scared? Well, after...that encounter with the plant, I installed sensors on all my cameras to be notified immediately when something passed in front of them.

However, I couldn't believe that... _that_ happened. Again.

I ran to the basement as fast as I could and I looked at the screen that showed the flowerbed, hoping that what I had seen on my phone was an illusion, a hallucination, a phantasm...it wasn't.

Another human had fallen down.

He had mid-length black hair, and...his eyes were closed, so I couldn't tell what color were they. He was probably still unconscious from the fall. Ninety-percent of his clothing was black: his leather jacket, his jeans, his tie, his shoes...the only thing I could see that wasn't black was his shirt, which was gray.

His eyes opened: the irises were gray, inexpressive.

He got up and looked around: he wasn't muttering anything to himself, heck, I couldn't even tell if he was surprised: his expression was completely blank, as if he were a mannequin.

I tried to remember everything I could from the reports ever since the day I started getting them: the only human supposed to fall in the Underground that day was Frisk, there were no mentions of...emo teenagers anywhere. But then again, that timeline was already odd enough...Asriel had survived, his brother was still inside of him, no human, aside from Frisk, had ever fell in the Underground...what was happening in that timeline? He didn't look very dangerous, at least not as the flower, so I felt like I could spy on him in peace.

He walked in the next room, but I had no other cameras in the Ruins so there wouldn't have been any way to track him after that...I needed to follow him personally. I waited until he left the room and took a shortcut: if I didn't move fast, I would've lost him.

* * *

I entered the door: there were a few lights on the ceiling, but apart from those it was pitch dark.

The only thing I could see was a door on the other side of the room...and a flower smiling at me from a patch of grass right in front of me.

" **Howdy! I'm Flowey! Flowey the Flower!** " the flower greeted me.

"...Excuse me?" I asked, in the most calm way possible. There was no way that could be real.

" **You're new to the...** " the flower stopped when he realized I wasn't paying attention to him: I put my hand next to my mouth and exhaled with my mouth, then breathed in with my nose "Nope, I'm not drunk. Guess this means it's a prank."

" **...Prank?** " the flower's initial cheerful facade vanished.

"I've never seen a robot this cool before." I pretended the flower was fake...but deep inside, I knew it wasn't a joke "Where are the cameras?"

" **What do you mean "where are the cameras"? I'm real, you idiot!** " he was becoming more and more pissed.

"Yeah, like Santa Claus. Who set this up?" who would ever want to prank me...no-one I knew, for sure. The only one I could think of was Alice, but she wasn't into pranks.

" **Oh...so you think this is all fake, huh? Maybe you think I'm joking, that I'm not serious...** " the flower leered at me...there was no way that plant could be a robot " **Let me show you how "real" this is...** "

I felt...weird. Like a part of me had left me, like I wasn't the same anymore. Something exited my chest: a pitch black heart, around the size of a tennis ball, floating in the air like a feather.

" **You see that thing? That's your Soul, the very culmination of your being...** " the flower's leer became...something that could've come out of a horror movie " **...And, in a few seconds, it's going to be MINE!** "

The flower summoned a few white...no, black pellets around him and shot them at the human: he was going to get hurt, I couldn't allow it...I erected a barrier of bones between the human and his aggressor "Don't trust that plant!" I yelled at him "He's gonna kill you if you don't defend yourself!"

The human turned around and saw me: he chuckled faintly as he commented "Wow, even a skeleton...am I dreaming now? It has to be a dream."

"Look, I know it might sound weird...but this is all real! I am real! That...thing is real! And, if you don't run, he's gonna-" I couldn't feel myself anymore as powerful vines emerged from the ground and held me in a tight grip

" **Well, look who joined us...have you come here to waste my welcome party? Hmm? Or did you feel left out? Don't worry...after I get rid of this insolent brat, you'll be the next one to join the dead!** "

I was neutralized, I couldn't help the human anymore...and the barrier got destroyed as soon as the pellets hit it...that human needed to fend for himself "Human, listen to me carefully...even if you don't believe me...you need to avoid those pellets at all costs: if you don't...then you're gonna die."

"I'm going to die, huh? Well then, even if this is a dream, I might as well treat it like it isn't, am I right?" he got in a fighting stance and prepared for the imminent fight.

" **Great! Now that you're taking this seriously...let's have some fun!** "

Before the battle could begin, I looked in the human's Soul, to see how powerful he was...I couldn't believe my eyes.

LV 20.

100 HP.

Undetermined Power.

I wasn't sure if to be scared for the human...or of the human.

* * *

[Persona 2 Innocent Sin: Battle Theme ( watch?v=oNOoMF8Ibxk)]

"Hey kid, can you hear me?" the skeleton behind me asked.

I answered, a bit angered "Don't call me kid ever again: I'm twenty-two, I'm much older than a kid."

"Yeah, whatever..." I was surprised he could even talk with all those vines pressing against his...oh, wait, he didn't have lungs "If you want to survive, hear me out: attack the flower and don't get hit. It's as easy as that."

As easy as that. Of course.

That flower was looking at me so...evilly: only looking at that ugly face of his made me want to kill him. I felt...something else: it was like I could feel my hatred, my sufferance...my determination. The heart in front of me reacted to those feelings, rapidly transforming in a dark blade, as long as a baseball bat. I grabbed it as it floated mid-air: it wasn't too heavy, I could work with that.

As I held the hilt in my right hand, I finally understood that wasn't a dream: what I was handling wasn't a sword, but my emotions made weapon. Weird, explained like that would make you think it really was a dream.

I ran towards the flower and slashed right through him: despite I hit him as hard as I possibly could, he was still standing upright as if nothing happened.

"Hey, are you cheating? I hit you!" I yelled as I jumped backwards, unsure of what to do next.

Since the flower was too busy...doing something, the skeleton explained to me what happened "That blade...I don't know how or why, but it's basically _your Soul_. Souls aren't made of physical matter, so they don't make any physical damage."

As I listened to the skeleton's explanation, I got hit by some of those pellets: it hurt a little bit, but they didn't left any visible bruises or cuts. I got hurt, yes, but it was as if I got hurt _everywhere_ at once...

"God, what were those?"

"Magical bullets: you might want to avoid them in the future." the skeleton sarcastically explained.

"Anyway, what do I do now..." what was his name again?

"Sans. I'm Sans. Keep attacking the flower until he can no longer sustain these vines, then I'll come in and finish the job."

"Why can't I simply attack the vines?" I inquired, confused.

I ran up to the skeleton and tried to cut the vines with my sword, but they were...indestructible, unbreakable. I heard the flower yell at me aloud, but I didn't care about anything he said: I threw my weapon at him from where I was, hitting him right in the face.

The sword didn't get stuck in his body: it vanished in black dust soon after, then the dust returned to me like it were carried by the wind. It eventually reformed as a black heart, floating right next to me.

" **This isn't fair! Why don't you make me a HUGE favor and DIE?** " the flower yelled as he created more of those...magical bullets. Yeah, I still wasn't believing that whole "magic" thing: if I did, I would've looked like a three-years old.

"You're doing a great job!" Sans congratulated me "Keep attacking!"

" **You need to learn to SUFFER!** " the flower attacked me again...I tried to dodge the bullets, but they were too fast and way too many: I was getting hit too many times...and every hit reminded me that I wasn't dreaming at all.  
A few more hits...and I could've been in some trouble.

" **I don't think you'll survive my next trick!** " the flower laughed maniacally, but I didn't give a damn.

"That flower's preparing something: figure out a way to defend yourself!" the skeleton yelled at me, serious. Well, if he said so...

Defend, defend, defend...that's all I was thinking about: defending. The heart in front of me changed shape once more: this time, instead of becoming a sword, it became a huge shield, as big as me. It floated in the air a meter or so away from me, but I was more than enough confident it would've sufficed to protect me.

" **DIE!** " I heard the flower yell as...a crap ton of bullets got deflected by that shield: I understood immediately I could control it with my mind, so blocking all the attacks became much easier than expected.

" **Why the hell are you NOT getting hurt?** " the shield disappeared and became a heart once more, ready to strike the flower once again " **That shield is basically YOUR SOUL! So, it should HURT you when I HIT you, shouldn't it?** " if that flower had feet, it would've used them to stomp the ground mercilessly for sure.

I used that opportunity to summon my blade once more and hit the flower: this time, the attack seemed to have some sort of effect, as it fell to the ground and didn't get up

" **H-How can you be so strong...you can't...no, it's not you: it's me! I'm just feeling a little tired! I've slept for a long while, you know?** " he got up and looked at me: his smile was the definition of "horror", his expression pure evil " **So congratulations: you beat someone who wasn't prepared. Bet you're real proud of yourself, huh? Well, don't get too cocky: I will eventually kill you. You, that traitorous bitch, and everyone else in this world!** " the flower disappeared in the ground, leaving only me and the skeleton in the room.  
"Get rekt."

* * *

The human seemed proud of his victory; meanwhile, the vines that blocked me died in an instant, letting me go without repercussions on my...health.

"First off, good job fending off that...monster." if I could call him that, that is.

The human turned towards me and thanked me...as inexpressive as ever. I was beginning to get worried by his attitude, I already knew my puns wouldn't have made him laugh at all.

"What's your name?" I asked.

"Dante." he answered "Dante Alighieri. Also known as the wrong guy in the wrong place." he looked around the room...then back at me "I still have trouble admitting this is all...real...seems like something straight out of a video-game..." he then asked "Anyway, where are we? What is this place?"

This...Dante...that Level of Violence was incredibly high. Every time I thought about that number, twenty, I remembered about that one report...that one report that showed what would've happened if Frisk killed...everyone. There was no way that was a coincidence...was it?

"Before I answer that question, kiddo...answer this." I stared at him as seriously as I could "...Did you kill someone? Anyone? What did you do to become so...violent?"

He looked at me estranged...and yet, he was still showing no emotion "Look, I did some...things in my life. I can't say I'm exactly a good person, even though a few people keep believing that...but I never killed anyone. Of that I'm sure."

I tried to keep calm: he wasn't a bad guy. He wasn't lying. I had to stop mistaking that kid for...I didn't even want to think about that timeline, but I couldn't stop: someone who was just as violent and merciless as that Frisk was standing right in front of me...would he have done the same as her, or would he...

Would he have helped me?

The thought crossed my mind for an instant: usethis anomaly to fight off the other one. It could've worked...but first, I needed to get a few information out of him.

"You're in the Underground, kiddo, the home of the monsters..." he took that information in without asking any questions "So, why did you fall down here? Was it an accident or..."

"Yeah, now I remember." he explained "I was looking for someone. A girl, her name is Frisk if I recall correctly. She had run to Mount Ebott for...some stupid reason, and a certain someone asked me to take care of her."

"A certain someone?" I asked, unsettled by that particular omission.

"Look, I appreciate the fact that you helped me back there but...I don't feel like I can trust you completely. And I can tell there are a few things you don't want to tell me either..." how could he...was it that obvious, I wondered? I had been careful to avoid showing any doubt and yet...

And yet, he found out. No reason to not tell him now, was there?

"Look, Dante, it's clear we both want something from each other..." something in his expression changed, like he was finally giving a damn about the world around me "So, let's make a deal: I will help you find the girl, and you will help me get rid of that plant..."

"Seems legit." he answered as he smirked.

"So, do we have a deal?" I asked as I offered him my skeletal hand to shake.

"Deal." he answered as he grabbed it...

The whoopee cushion in my hand made it's characteristic long fart, slightly unsettling the human as my smile got wider and wider.

"Gesù..." [Jesus...]

"Sorry, sorry...I'm not joking anymore though. We need to talk, me and you."


	9. Snowland (part 2)

_They were busy drawing and coloring some flowers: I knew it was the right time to ask "Chara, can I ask you a question?"_

" _ **Of course...unless it's a stupid one.** " to Them, almost everything that came out of my mouth was stupid: They thought that there was no need to ask questions that do not have any utility, especially to people who "do not have any interest in you"...basically, anyone that was not Them or our parents._

" _Why are you always so...depressed?" They looked at me, half surprised and half angered "It's just that...you never seem to have fun anywhere..."_

" _ **Are you seriously asking this to me again? I hate "having fun", it's useless and even counter-productive.** " Chara returned to their drawing, but I was not done with Them "I do not get it: you told me something like that the other day as well...but you were not so clear. Could you please tell me...why?"_

" _ **Well then, I'll try to be as clear as possible this time.** "They got up and looked at me in the eyes: their red light unsettled more than ever " **I hate having fun: it's a waste of time. Who, in their right mind, would invest their time in stupid activities that don't benefit them at all when they know they're going to end eventually? The more you have fun, the more you get sad once it's all over.** " Chara walked away, without finishing their drawing; They invited me to follow Them " **If it were for me, happiness and all those useless sentiments wouldn't exist. The world would be so much better without them...** "_

 _I never quite understood Them: They were so different from any other kid my age, I was shocked every time They opened their mouth; every time my sibling said something like that, I nodded, despite clearly not believing Them. That time was no exception: I could have never lived without my emotions, of that I was sure. A life without happiness, without joy, without love...what life is that?_

* * *

As we walked down the path, we spotted another "sentry post", as Frisk had begun calling them: this one, unlike the other, was poorly made and could barely be called a building. Not only did it sink in the snow below it, the overall construction was sloppy and pretty much useless. Whoever did that clearly did not know anything about architecture.

"Hey, there's some...text over here." Frisk was referring to a small sign attached to the front of the building: some words were written on that sign, but in a weird manner that made them almost impossible to read; since I had troubles understanding what it meant, I let Frisk observe it herself. She quickly decoded the writing and read out loud "You observe the well-crafted sentry station..."who could've built this", you ponder...I bet it was that very famous royal guardsman! Note: not yet a very famous royal guardsman."

I facepalmed and refused to see or listen any further: I had just exited the Ruins and...that happened. I felt embarrassed simply standing next to that sentry post.

"Well, I guess we already know who does this sentry post belong to..." Frisk chuckled.

"Of that I am sure: there's no way this...thing could have been built by anyone else but that...Papyrus, or whatever his name was..." it was going to be a _long_ journey, I could tell.

We kept walking forward: a few dozens feet away, we spotted another sentry post. This one looked like the first one, but an incision resembling a puppy was carved on it's front wall. Another important thing: it did not emit that same disgusting stench of condiments the first one did.

Frisk stared at the construction from afar, excited "Oh boy! That looks so cute!" she ran towards it, leaving me behind; "Wait, Frisk! It could be d-" I could not finish my sentence: something had emerged from the sentry post. Frisk had become immobile all of a sudden, which scared me immensely.

The creature looked like a dog monster: he stood on his hinder legs, he was tall, thin and...suspicious. His skin was white and black, but it was mostly covered by a pink shirt and orange pants with black circles on them. He was chewing a dog biscuit like it were a cigarette.

Now, all dog monster, as far as I remembered, are capable of understanding spoken language perfectly, so I was confident we could have solved whatever issue he had through the power of diplomacy. This dog, however, could also speak "Did something move? Was it my imagination?" was he blind, I wondered? "If something did move...for example, a squirrel...I'll make sure it never moves again!" I did not like how he ended that sentence one bit.

The monster jumped out of his post and attacked blindly, unsure of where to hit: Frisk was not moving at all, which probably confused the dog as he could only see moving things (at least, I remembered blind monsters could understand where other people were by perceiving their movements), but I did not like those two azure daggers of his at all so I yelled at him to stop "She is not a squirrel...whatever that is, you idiot!"

"Who talked?" he could not see me, as I was not moving either "Whatever! That's something a squirrel would say! Now die, you little furry fiend!" what a sloppy excuse...but a dangerous one at that: he seemed to have found out where Frisk was and was preparing to strike her with his daggers. The girl foresaw the incoming attack, but she did not dodge.

* **So, let me get this straight: I attacked her non-stop for five minutes...and she gets hit only by** _ **that**_ **?** * They could not contain their rage: I was not sure why They were angry, were They not happy she had been hurt?

The fact remained that the dog had just hit Frisk, and I could not let him get away with that: just as I was about to summon black flames to strike that monster down, I noticed that she was perfectly fine "Asriel, those daggers do absolutely nothing! They phased right through me!" she told me, laughing hysterically but still remaining still.

"Of course, you squirrel: my blades can only hurt moving things! Now, where in the world are you..." he kept waving his knives around, but he did not look very dangerous anymore. I wanted to tell Frisk that she needed to run away, but she approached the dog before I could say a word and pet him on the head from behind "You're such a good doggy!"

"W-What? I've been pet? By a s-squirrel?" he was almost paralyzed from fear: he managed to jump back inside his sentry post and disappear behind the counter, sighing like a scared child. What a loser, I thought.

I approached Frisk and asked "Why did you pet him? He tried to kill you!" I was angry that she put herself in danger like that.

"Why, do you want to be pet as well?" she asked, mockingly; I was about to tell her no, embarrassed, but she told me to forget about it "I was just kidding! Don't worry, I know you're easily embarrassed." as she said those last words, I blushed uncontrollably: she was right, and I hated it.

We departed soon after: we eventually arrived at a crossroads; a small iced pond was in the middle of the crossroad, which I thought was quite beautiful. We could decide to go to the left or right in front of us, just like before.

"Let us not be fooled again, Frisk: the correct path must surely be the one before us!" I pointed to the path right beyond the pond; she quickly answered, calm "Then let's go left first!"

I was puzzled: why would we ever want to go somewhere we did not need to? However, she could not be swayed from her decision so I eventually agreed to go left first. I ignored Chara's ranting in my head, as the situation alone was already unbearable.

By walking down that secondary path, we eventually arrived to the edge of a cliff: the only thing that was remotely interesting was a snowman stationed a few inches away from the abyss. He soon revealed to be able to talk "Hello, I'm a snowman." I would have been shocked...if I were not habituated to odd things: the Underground was full of mysteries, even to it's denizens.

"I want to see the world...but I cannot move. Please, traveler, take a piece of me and bring it far, far away, as far as you can!" Frisk approached the snowman and pulled a small snowflake from his body.

"Thank you kindly, lady." I was not sure if he was happy, his "mouth" was not moving at all, just like everything else that made up his body. Frisk nodded, and reassured him that she would have fulfilled his request; she walked back to me and put the snowflake inside her jacket's pocket.

I was worried that the snowflake would have melted inside the human's jacket, but she answered sure "It won't melt."

"How can you be so sure?" I asked, dubious.

"I dunno, I just feel like it." she simply replied "Let's get right on track."

We reached the end of the path: the snow before us had been removed to create a big square in the ground, and on the other side of that square stood the orange-wearing skeleton "NYEH, SANS HASN'T RETURNED YET...OH, HEY! IT'S THE HUMAN AND HER GOAT-BRO!" I hated the fact that he put the pronoun "her" before "Goat-bro" "YOU ARRIVED JUST IN TIME TO WITNESS MY FIRST CREATION! OBSERVE...OR BETTER, DON'T OBSERVE...MY INVISIBLE ELECTRICAL MAZE! OF DOOM!" he said "doom" way too cheerfully: did he even know what that adjective meant?

"What are you talking about? There's nothing over here." I pointed out, confused.

* **That's the point, you idiot! It's supposed to be invisible! And...electrical, or something.** * They reprimanded me in my head * **And the word "electrical" doesn't attract me at all...** *

"I UNDERSTAND YOUR PERPLEXITY, GOAT-BRO! YOU SEE, IF YOU TOUCH THE WALLS OF THE MAZE RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU..." he pulled some kind of green orb from his back "...THIS ORB WILL FULGURATE YOU INSTANTLY! YOU WILL NEVER GET THROUGH MY PUZZLE...ALIVE! NYEH HEH HEH!" did he even realize what he just said? He looked way to cheerful for someone who wanted to capture an innocent human...if he was going to capture her: there was a chance the shock could have killed her on the spot! There was no way I could have let Frisk walk through that square...but she did it anyway, and bumped into an invisible wall almost instantly: Papyrus screamed in pain, seemingly getting electrocuted by something. He quickly dropped the sphere and told Frisk to get back "SOMETHING IS DEFINITELY OFF...OH, BUT OF COURSE! HOW COULD I HAVE POSSIBLY FORGOTTEN...YOU NEED TO HOLD THE ORB, HUMAN!" he walked through the maze, dodging every invisible wall and dropping the orb right atop the girl, who caught it mid-air, then returned to his starting position.

Knowing the damage that orb could have caused if she held it, I told Frisk to leave it on the ground...but I quickly noticed that the skeleton had left his footprints on the square right in front of us: he basically gave us the right answer to his riddle. We followed his footprints and arrived to his location, unsettling him "HOW COULD YOU POSSIBLY WIN? MY PUZZLE WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO FIGURE OUT!"

"You left your footprints in the snow...sorry for ruining your puzzle." Frisk said as she returned the orb to the skeleton. She was too kind for her own good...especially with the wrong people.

"DON'T WORRY, HUMAN! IT'S PERFECTLY FINE! NYEH HEH HEH!" what a horrible laugh...that alone, combined with the skeleton's excessively loud noise, was enough to drive me mad "THIS WAS ONLY THE FIRST TRIAL! YOU STILL HAVE A LOT AHEAD OF YOU BEFORE I GIVE UP! AND YOU CAN BET I WON'T STOP AT NOTHING IN ORDER TO CAPTURE YOU! NYEH HEH HEH!" he ran away at supersonic speed once more; apparently, he was very good at running...or fleeing, in this case.

"Asriel?" Frisk called me.

"Yes, Frisk?"

"Do you really believe he's bad? I mean, he's trying to hurt me, that's true...but he doesn't look evil at all. He's childish, I admit it...but not evil. Maybe he's not a bad guy at all..."

"Frisk, sometimes...sometimes people are not what they make you believe they are. Sometimes, they act as if they were your friends just to stab you in the back when you least expect it..." was I the one talking...or was it Them? I couldn't tell the difference "Do not lower your guard near him, ever."

"I dunno." she commented "As a villain, he seems...out of place."

We soon discovered the path did not end there, and proceeded further: we soon spotted...what I can only describe as a blue anthropomorphic rabbit selling ice-creams. He wore a yellow t-shirt and red pants, and he looked cheerful "Oh, customers!" it looked like simply looking at us made his day "Would you like some Nice Creams? It's the frozen treat that warms your heart!" an ice-cream vendor in the middle of Snowland...was this guy an idiot or something?

"Why in the world are you selling ice-creams here? Why would we even want it, dammit!" I grabbed my hair with my hands: everything that did not make sense made me uncomfortable.

"You should try it! One out of one customer likes it!" he looked away and he muttered "...Even thought that's just because I only had one customer in my entire career..." if did not want me to listen, he failed miserably; he returned to his cheerful facade and exclaimed "Come on, you and your daughter should at least try it!"

"She is not my daughter!" I yelled at him, enraged and embarrassed.

"You're my goat-bro! That's sorta like it!" that did not even make sense!

"No, I am not your real brother either!" at that point, not even I was sure of what was going on anymore.

"I'll try a Nice Cream, thank you." Frisk ignored me and asked the monster for one of his cones.

"Why would you ever ask for that? You are going to regret it soon after! Your brain will freeze!"

* **Besides, do you realize she's going to use our money** * now that I thought about it, that was even worse! It was a waste of money, _my_ money!

"You will never convince me to pay for that!" as soon as I said that, both Frisk and the vendor began looking at me like a puppy would, begging me to allow them both to have what they wanted: her ice cream, and his money. I knew I had no choice, so I handed the vendor his money without saying anything. He could not stop praising me and thanking me as he prepared the cone for the little girl.

Frisk ate her ice-cream in less than a minute, which made me extremely worried for her nervous system: when she finished, she realized she had something in her mouth and promptly spit it out. A little piece of paper with a drawing of a hug on it...was that really necessary?

"So, did you like your Nice Cream?" the vendor expected eagerly an answer.

"Of course! I admit, I never ate ice cream before...but it felt good! It felt like I were eating snow!"

We waved our goodbyes at the rabbit and proceeded down the road: we soon got stopped by Papyrus "HUMAN!" seriously, he was becoming annoying "I HOPE YOU'RE PREPARED FOR MY NEXT PUZZLE!" he then continued, proud "ACTUALLY, THIS ONE IN PARTICULAR WAS MADE BY MY BROTHER SANS THE OTHER DAY! I AM SO PROUD OF HIM!" I saw nothing between us and him, so I suspected there being another invisible maze of some kind...until I spotted a piece of paper lying on the cold hard ground a few feet away. I approached it, uncaring about potential dangers, and discovered it was...a word-search for kids. Really, really, REALLY young kids.

I grabbed the paper in my right paw and squeezed it"Is...is that it? Is that it? IS THAT IT?" the paper burned in my hand until it was reduced to a pile of black ashes; the skeleton could only look as his "puzzle" got incinerated to a crisp "WELL, IT SEEMS SOMEONE BROKE THE GAME! YOU ARE A DIRTY CHEATER!"

*Is he serious, or is he really that stupid?* I asked to my sibling, unsure.

* **I don't know what would be worse...** * They did not seem to know the answer either.

"This was not even a real puzzle! How was this supposed to stop us?" I asked for a logical explanation...perfectly knowing there was not one.

"I DON'T KNOW, MY BROTHER MADE IT! ANYWAY, EVEN THOUGH YOU MANAGED TO GET PAST THIS TRAP, THERE ARE PLENTY OF THEM LEFT! SO CONTINUE, HUMAN...IF YOU DARE! NYEH HEH HEH!" he disappeared in the forest once more, but I did not have the strength to keep commenting on that: I just wanted to rest for a bit, I had gone through so much in mere minutes...Frisk patted me on the shoulder and told me we needed to keep going, something I approved, for once.

We walked down the snowy path until we finally found a way out of that thick forest: a wooden table stood before us in the small plateau that extended before our eyes. On the table, a plate of...spaghetti (I hope I pronounced the name correctly, or else someone will most likely kill me...). Something was written on a paper atop the spaghetti, and Frisk read it out loud "Human and goat-bro..."

"Why is this nickname so popular?" first the goat thing, now...that stupid nickname! Maybe I had done a big mistake allowing everyone to call me that...

"...Please enjoy this spaghetti, cooked by me, Master Chef Papyrus. Little do you know, this is also a trap: once you'll start eating the spaghetti, you won't be able to stop and will gradually become fatter until you'll be so weak I'll be able to capture you without effort. Nyeh heh heh..." she reproduced the skeleton's laughter perfectly.

"Did you really have to do it?" I sighed.

"Yes, yes I did." she eyed the spaghetti suspicious "You know what? I'm gonna eat it."

"What? But you just ate ice cream! Besides, why would you ever trust that weird skeleton?"

"I dunno, I just feel like it. I bet he makes real nice spaghetti!"

* **I approve! This is going to be "fun"!** * that could only mean I was not going to be pleased with the results.

She approached the table: she soon noticed there was no fork to eat the pasta with, so she decided to use her hands to do so instead...too bad that...

"It's...it's stuck to the table!" she admitted, surprised.

"It seems as though you will not eat any spaghetti today." I smirked.

As we walked away from the pasta, Frisk noticed a mousehole in a nearby rock "Knowing that the mouse might one day exit the mousehole and eat the spaghetti..." she was at it again... "...It feels me with determination."

"Seriously? What is up with you, your mouseholes and your "determination"?"

"I dunno, I thought it without...thinking. Like it were automatic or something. It felt good though." she crossed her arms and wondered about something.

"...If you say so..." I sighed.

After that...unexpected (and unwanted) moment with Frisk, we returned to our voyage in the forest...

* * *

I could see Frisk and the Prince leaving the plate of Papyrus' spaghetti through a special screen I had just installed: the screen was connected to a wireless camera I had inserted in Dante's sunglasses, which made me see (and hear) everything around him. He had accepted my deal, and he now was my eyes and ears in the Underground. The biggest advantage was that he could fight back in case of need, without blowing my cover. I also gave him a small pair of headphones with a microphone built in, so that we could talk without using a cellphone.

"So, about that spaghetti..." the human wanted to make conversation, maybe he felt lonely in that white landscape "...To be honest, it doesn't look that good..."

"Yeah, my brother isn't the best cook." I was sure Papyrus would've never found out I said it out loud "He tries to be, but...well, some people are just unfit for cooking."

"If you were to give that dish a rating between "The best thing ever" and "The worst thing ever", how would you rate it?" was he being sarcastic, perhaps?

"I would rate it... "Something that makes me even more dead than a skeleton"." he wanted me to be honest, right? Why not put a little pun in there, just for good measure? He wasn't going to notice it anyway...

"Do you eat that stuff every day?" he asked, calm.

"Yeah, most people don't have the _stomach_ for it..." I winked, perfectly knowing he couldn't see me "...I surely don't, for one."

"Was that a pun?" he seemed...displeased "Sorry, I hate puns. I don't know why, but I do. I bet you have lots of them already prepared, don't you?"

"Yeah, I do. Guess I'll have to show them to someone else, huh?" to who, though? If I were there checking on the Underground, making sure that the fiendish plant didn't alter the timeline more than he already had, I couldn't be helping Frisk on her journey...

"Hey, remember our deal." Dante warned me "Once I make that weed smoke, you will let me have a private conversation with the kid, will you?"

"Sure." I simply answered.

"Anyway, are you sure all those things you told me earlier were true? About time travel, "Saves", "Loads", timelines? Because it felt like something straight out of a sci-fi film." he was skeptical, but I couldn't blame him: I would've been too if I didn't find out about it myself.

"Don't worry, kiddo, I know that's true. Scientifically true. After all, I'm the guy who made the discovery, so...hey, can I ask you a question?"

"Shoot." he calmly answered.

"I told you about the timelines, my work here, everything that could've been useful to you in your job...but you haven't told me anything about you. What, exactly, do you want from Frisk? I hate not knowing who I'm dealing with...heh, _deal_ , get it?"

He didn't respond to the pun in any way: he answered, inexpressive "I'm not too sure what I want from her either: I need to ask her a few questions, get a few information out of there...but, I also have a promise to maintain."

"What promise?" he didn't look like the guy who made promises at random.

"I have to protect her, at all costs. Bring her somewhere safe, to be precise. And I better do it quick: tonight there's X-Factor Italy's Finale, and it's my only chance to watch it on one of those damn American programs..."

"Well, at least you know what your objectives are." I didn't know what he was talking about, but I didn't care either; as I laid on my couch, my eyes darting from screen to screen, I commented "I like people like you."

But I lied: I was scared of him. Very, very scared.


	10. Snowland (part 3)

_I always loved New Home's Main Park: it had plenty of green grass, lots of trees to climb, a few benches to relax after a day spent playing...the light crystals atop the cavern, with their yellow and blue lights, simulated almost realistically the sky and the Sun on the Surface...at least, Chara thought so._

 _We were sitting on a white stone bench as They beckoned me " **Hey Asriel, look!** " Chara pointed at a green female monster enjoying a walk in the park with a white dog monster: suddenly, the former tripped and fell on the ground, prompting the dog to run to him and bark worriedly. The green monster got up as soon as she could, sorry for worrying the dog so much._

" _ **What a poetic creature,** **the dog.** " They commented " **His life is tied to that of his master...as his emotions are: the dog is a mirror of his master's mood...usually, at least. When his master is happy, he is happy as well; when his master is sad, he becomes sad as well...** "_

" _That is some real dedication, is it not? To live your life in function of someone else's...truly, he must-"_

" _ **That's not all there is to it.** " They had not finished explicating " **What do you think happens when a dog's master dies before his dog does?** " before I could reply, They answered their own question " **The dog will die as well...inside, at least. If the sole reason why he is alive dies, he will die as well: he will never be the same again, he will never feel or love again...he will become an empty shell, an empty memoir of who he used to be...** "_

 _It was not uncommon for Them to say such dark things, especially when They were alone with me, and I was kind of used to them: still, looking at the dog having fun with their friend...made their words even more oppressing and terrifying; I wanted to cry, but I somehow managed to control myself._

" _ **What do you think happens, however, when a dog dies before his master does? Surely, his master will be upset about his death...but he will get over it, eventually. Everyone does. He will forget about him, it wasn't like his life depended on his dog's, after all...the feelings the dog proves for his master aren't returned at all. All the dog leaves behind when he dies are mere memories, destined to be forgotten...even by those who should treasure them the most.** "_

 _I could not keep myself calm anymore and I began crying: a quiet, noiseless cry that I was sure nobody could hear or see. I was not sure why was I crying: maybe for the dog or the owner of Chara's story, maybe for dogs and owners in general...most likely because I felt like I needed to, and it felt alright to let my emotions free._

 _I heard something approaching me from right in front of me: the dog, who most likely spotted me crying as soon as I started, had gotten close to make sure I was okay. Seeing that little puppy so full of life...made me feel much better; I patted the dog on his head and petted him behind his ears, something he seemed to like a lot._

 _After that cute moment, the dog returned to his friend, who wanted to return home; soon after, Chara hit me in the back but I somehow managed not to fall off the bench " **Consoled by a dog...you truly are a crybaby! Stop crying: we need to return home.** "_

* * *

We were walking in that infinite iced plateau when we saw a pile of snow on our left: it obviously was artificial, there was no way so much snow could have fell on the same spot...

"Oh, Asriel, can I go play in the snow? That looks so much fun!" Frisk asked me excited.

"Of course you can, Frisk...however, I must ask you not to waste too much time..." but she had already jumped in the snow pile. As she enjoyed herself making snow angels, I noticed too late her Soul exiting her body and her timer popping up "Frisk, watch out! Something's incoming!"

A dog monster covered in light gray iron armor emerged from the snow pile and jumped at her, but she managed to avoid him just in time; now that he was out in the open, I could see his small shield and his...short sword. This one, unlike the previous dog's weapon, was not azure: that could only mean it was a real weapon, one that could hurt you if it slashed right through you.

He once again jumped at Frisk, but she outmaneuvered him and got right behind him: I thought she was going to attack him from behind...but she began petting him instead.

* **And here I thought she was actually going to do the right thing and fight back...but no, she's too cool for that: petting him is a much, much better idea...** * the irony in Chara's immaterial voice was palpable.

The dog dropped his sword and shield to the ground, his tail swung following the rhythm of Frisk's caresses: it looked like the battle had ended before it could even start.

Suddenly, the dog's neck started...extending: the more the human petted him, the more his neck elongated and elevated itself...that made me laugh uncontrollably for a second; when the dog's neck reached a certain altitude, it turned downwards and slowly descended to the ground. I did not even want to imagine the amount of pressure his neck must have been tolerating in that moment.

* **Is there an end to this madness?** * They commented in my head.

"That is enough Frisk: I do not want that poor guy's neck to suddenly snap..."

The girl sighed and apologized "Yeah, I think it's enough...I never pet a dog before, and I got a little excited..." just a little, I thought?

She stopped petting the dog and walked to me; meanwhile, the dog's neck returned to normal as he barked to us and fled contented. At least someone got what they desired...

"Hey, I think we need to go over there." Frisk pointed at a bunch of spikes emerging from the ground a few feet away "The dog fled in that direction, so that's probably where we need to go..."

"But I do not see any switches around here..." I mumbled "Hmm...where could the switch that lowers these spikes be?" as I pondered that, I noticed that the snow where the human and the dog "fought" (if we could call that fighting) had something on top of it: it looked like a map of the nearby area, and there was a big "X" right in the middle of a nearby dead end. A hint to the solution, perhaps?

Frisk noticed it as well and asked me to go investigate that area: I got where she asked me to go and spotted a small white button on a nearby tree, which I immediately pressed. Frisk shouted that the spikes had lowered, so I returned to her as fast as I could.

"Good job Asriel!" she congratulated me as she clapped her hands.  
"Oh, I do not deserve your congratulations..." I blushed the compliment away "You would have figured it out soon anyway..."

"But I didn't." she tried to better my mood "You are better than you think, Asriel! You're smart, intelligent, mature: you're so much better than me!"

* **Not enough apparently, since you agreed to participate in this foolish voyage...** *

We proceeded down the road that had been blocked by spikes until we got ambushed by two more dogs: these two were wearing two huge axes and wearing sinister black robes; the one on the left looked like a male, while the one on the right looked like a female.

"What's that smell?" "Where's that smell?"

"If you're a smell..." "Identify yoursmellf!"

They then began running around nonsensically: perhaps these two were blind as well, I wondered? They soon stopped right in front of us and pointed out:

"Here's that weird smell..." "It smells like...squirrels!"

"Oh, come on! Again with this whole "squirrel" thing? Are there even squirrels in the Underground?" I angrily asked.

"Did you hear that honey?" "It must definitely be a squirrel."

"I give up!" I summoned a few black flames and jumped backwards, ready for combat "If you get one of those axes near my friend, I will make you smell something tremendously hot!"

I was about to say some more threatening phrases when Frisk jumped in the snow in front of her and rolled in it for a few seconds; this apparently unsettled Chara, who was worried about their former clothes * **No! That's my jacket! I mean, not anymore...but it still is! Tell her to stop immediately!** *

"Honey, I think the squirrel's smell changed." "Yes, it did: should we re-smell it?"

Frisk got up and stood idly as the two dogs sniffed her green jacket.

"I think we made a mistake, honey." "This isn't a squirrel, it's a little puppy!"

"W-What?"

* **WHAT?** *

Frisk began petting the two dogs simultaneously, more or less like she did with the dogs from before: she really did enjoy petting them, and they enjoyed being pet by her as well.

"Dogs can pet other dogs?" "A new world has opened for us..."

"Oh my God..." I could not understand what was happening anymore.

* **Please, I beg you, take me somewhere very, very far away from that girl...** * as much as I wanted to satisfy that particular request, I could not abandon Frisk...despite her oddness.

Frisk waved her goodbyes at the monsters and then approached me as I walked away "Hey, what do you think? I'm pretty good at this whole "fighting" thing, am I not?"

"I have to admit, your methods are...unconventional, but effective. However, I must remind you that not all encounters can be solved through negotiation...or cuddles." she giggled when I mentioned cuddling.

She answered, joyous "Come on, Asriel! Being unconventional and creative is the key to success!"

"Who did you hear that from?" I asked her, curious "I have never heard such saying before..."

My question made her a bit uneasy, but she nevertheless answered "My mom...a few weeks ago. Just before she..." she did not end her sentence, and it did not even look like she wanted to.

Her rapid change of attitude, as well as the way she stopped talking abruptly, made me...suspicious: was Frisk's Mom...no, there was no way _that_ could have happened. There was no way...was there?There had to be another explanation, something else that could have explained her behavior...

I stopped thinking as soon as I noticed the puzzle right in front of me "Seriously, Papyrus? Is this really your definition of "puzzle"?"

* * *

"I'm having fun watching these two: they're like dumb and dumber, only...even dumber." what a bad joke...but I laughed to it anyway, most likely because I knew I made even worse jokes myself "Oh, can I ask you a thing?" Dante asked me, calm.

"Yeah, sure." I answered, trying to sound as carefree as possible.

"If that girl is the one I'm looking for...who's that monster with him? The one who looks like a giant goat." he precised. He was talking about Prince Asriel, of course, and I felt like telling him wouldn't have changed things too much "He's Asriel Dreemurr, legitimate heir to the throne of monsterkind...sorta. You see, there was an accident seventy years ago and his human sibling _kinda_ died. I don't know what happened to him after that...except that he exiled himself to the Ruins, that place where I found you some time ago." I explained as concisely as I could, as to not give away too much information.

"Exiled himself...until now." the human pointed out, finally interested in something.

"Yep, until now." I precised "Dunno what he's been doing in there all this time, but..."

"You mentioned his...human sibling died. I won't ask _how_ he had a human sibling, but I'll ask _how_ that guy died."

"As far as I know, he died of poisoning. Rumors have been spread on what happened next: that Asriel absorbed his Soul and traveled to the Surface, only to return barely alive. Of course, that has never been confirmed by the Royal Family. From the looks of it, his sibling is still alive...inside of him." I was actually sure of everything I had said so far, but explaining how I knew all that stuff would've been...complicated.

"So, he absorbed the Soul of his human sibling...is that even possible?" he asked, incredoulous.

"Monsters have the power to absorb human Souls, just like humans have the power to absorb powerful monsters' ones...monsters that have absorbed a human Soul become much, much stronger and deadlier..."

"So, that guy has another guy's Soul inside of him...that must be it..."

"What do you mean by that?" I was confused: what was he talking about?

"I can feel...something: it's coming from that goat's direction...it's like a vortex pulling me in, and it's made out of...hatred? I don't really know, how can that girl stay so close to him and not feel anything? How can _anyone_ stay so close to him and not feel anything?"

I tried to play dumb, but I knew what he was talking about "Actually, I've never felt anything coming from him either...maybe you're imagining it or something..."

"No, I'm not imagining shit. What's the deal with that guy, Asriel? Is he a menace for the girl?"

"Well, he _is_ pretty powerful. As I said, he possesses a human Soul, which makes him much more powerful...he's definitely out of your league, but I'm not sure whether he's a threat to the girl's safety or not..." I pulled a bottle of ketchup from my jacket's pocket and began drinking it "Probably not, but who knows?"

"Stronger than me? I like it..." was this guy getting cocky or something, I wondered? Maybe he just liked fighting with strong opponents: I wondered just who or what was he on the Surface...

"Dante, you're losing them." the monster and the little girl had navigated trough Papyrus' puzzle and were now really, really far away: why did I distract him like that?

"Well shit...how do I catch up to them now? There' no way I can run that fast, I hate running after all..." he sighed as he began walking in their direction; I wondered whether teaching him about the "shortcuts" was a bad idea or not...in the end, I figured out that I bet on that horse too much not to inform him of the technique that I mastered "Look, I really didn't want to teach you how to use them...but I guess it's time you learn about "shortcuts"."

"What are those?" he asked, interested.

"Follow my instructions...and you'll see that soon."

* * *

Papyrus' puzzles were not that difficult: they reminded me a lot of those pressure-plate based puzzles in the Ruins, except they were slightly more complicated...not too much, however. Frisk was solving them at an exceptional speed, and I was helping her to the best of my ability: overall, we were navigating through that area pretty quickly.

"I find it weird..." I told Frisk "That Papyrus, who expressed multiple times his desire to capture you, is not using more...violent methods to achieve his goals and is instead using puzzles to detour us..."

"Yeah, it's weird..." Frisk admitted "His logic doesn't make sense..."

To be honest, nothing really made sense: it had been fifty years since I was last in the Underground...but it felt like centuries: the atmosphere surely changed, generally the monsters were acting differently and weirdly. I felt like I was the only one sane in that cavern, and that was not a joke.

I ended my conversation with the human when I noticed Papyrus a dozen feet away from us, fiddling with a weird machine; between us and him was...like a huge chessboard whose tiles were all gray "HEY, IT'S THE HUMAN AND HER GOAT-BRO! YOU'VE FINALLY ARRIVED!" and there he was again, with his annoyingly high voice and the childish attitude "I'VE BEEN BUSY SETTING THIS MACHINE UP FOR THE LAST FIFTEEN MINUTES! I AM SURE YOU'RE GOING TO LOVE THIS PUZZLE!" there was no way whatever that thing was could have been stupider than the traps that led us there, so I raised my guard "THIS PUZZLE WAS COMMISIONED BY ME TO THE ROYAL SCIENTIST, DOCTOR ALPHYS!" he explained; funny, I never heard of any "Alphys" before: I thought the Royal Scientist's name was "Gaster" or something like that, perhaps he had resigned...

"ANYWAY, LET ME EXPLAIN THIS PUZZLE! DO YOU SEE THESE TILES?" Frisk nodded "ONCE I PRESS THIS BUTTON, THEY WILL ACTIVATE AND BECOME COLORED! EACH COLOR HAS A SPECIFIC FUNCTION: RED TILES ARE IMPASSABLE, YELLOW TILES ELECTROCUTE YOU, GREEN ONES WILL ATTRACT NEARBY MONSTERS..." that was all I remember, I could not understand a word of what he said next: he spoke about differently-colored tiles, rules and effects...I spent an entire year of my life to master chess and all of it's rules, spoken and unspoken: how could I memorize such a great deal of information in mere seconds?

"HUMAN! DID YOU GET ALL THAT?"

I wanted him to explain everything one more time, but Frisk answered quicker than me "Yes, I did."

"What?" I was surprised, very surprised in fact, that she could remember everything the tall skeleton said despite hearing it only once.

"EXCELLENT! OH, ONE LAST THING: THIS PUZZLE IS ENTIRELY RANDOM! WHICH MEANS THAT NOT EVEN I KNOW THE SOLUTION TO THIS PUZZLE!" everything just kept getting worse... "GOOD LUCK ON THIS ONE!"

"You cannot be serious! There is no way she can beat this puzzle!"

"What do you mean?" Frisk looked at me puzzled "I don't think it's that hard..."

"GET READY, HUMAN, FOR I AM ABOUT TO PRESS THE BUTTON!" the skeleton pressed a button on a small remote in his hand: the tiles in front of me flashed of different colors, changing their coloring every few instants. I was waiting for the moment where they would have stopped changing color and the puzzle could be started...except that an accident occurred: the machine next to Papyrus seemingly malfunctioned, causing all the tiles to become gray for a second, then either red or pink; Frisk explained that we could walk on pink tiles just fine, so we walked solely on those until we reached the other side of the chessboard.

"I...I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT TO SAY..." the skeleton looked defeated, inconsolable "PLEASE PROCEED WITHOUT ME..." he left in a hurry, without even laughing.

"...That was a bit sad. It's a shame his puzzle failed so miserably." Frisk looked a bit sorry for the skeleton; I replied, a bit surprised "I do not get it, why are you sorry? That puzzle could have been unsolvable for all we know!"

"That's the point! Can you imagine it, a puzzle that is entirely random of such huge complexity? I could've spent days, weeks, even months on that thing! Too bad I won't ever get to experience it..."

"Sometimes I really do not understand you, Frisk..." I sighed.

* **Only sometimes?** * They asked ironic in my head.

*Perhaps always.* I corrected myself.

* **That's better.** *

We walked further down the road and surprisingly we did not find any more puzzles for the following five minutes: while we were chatting, Frisk abruptly pointed in front of us and shouted "Asriel, look! That's so cool!"

In front of me was...a graveyard of snow sculptures, each of them resembled a canine monster of some kind: however, all of them had crumbled to the ground due to their...necks being too elongated. Gravity, the worst enemy of art.

"Who could've possibly made this?" was Frisk really asking herself that question, I thought? I believed the answer was quite obvious.

"A dog monster passed through here a few minutes ago." a monster approached us: she looked like one of those "cows" that are very common on the Surface, her skin was brown and she had huge horns. She wore a purple sweater, black leggings and purple boots: what I believed was the standard attire for Snowdin's citizens...that could only mean we were getting close!

"The dog came from where you did, he looked so...inspired! He made all of these sculptures by himself...but the necks were too long and that caused their heads to fall to the ground...how sad indeed..." she looked very interested in the sculptures...

I wanted to be sure we were nearing Snowdin town, so I asked "Excuse me, madame, is Snowdin town close nearby? It is almost time for lunch and we have not eaten yet..."

"Yeah, it is: just a hundred or so feet away...hey, now that I think about it, I've never see any of you two before: where did you come from?" did she not realize Frisk was a human? I could exploit that to our advantage, maybe other monsters would have mistook her for a monster as well...

Either way, I could not tell the woman the truth: I did not want anyone to figure out I was the Prince, and telling her where did I come from would have made her suspicious on my identity "We, uh, we came from the capital: we took the long way and now we are taking the short one to return back..." I sincerely hoped she would have drank it.

"Oh, that's good to hear! It's amazing people from New Home still come to visit little old Snowdin!" apparently, she did "Well, good luck on your journey, then! The capital is very far away from here..." of that, at least, I was sure. It would not have been easy to reach the Royal Palace, but we needed to do so before night...before anyone could figure out I had left the Ruins, at least.

"My thanks, madame. I wish you good luck as well, for everything you might need it." when I felt sure she could no longer hear me, I sighed of relief: I had made it, she had not found out I was the Prince.

"Hey goat-bro, why were you so nervous?" Frisk asked me.

Great, now I was nervous once more "It's...nothing, Frisk. I just...I am not the best at conversing." a sloppy answer, but an answer nonetheless "Fifty years spent alone certainly did not help..."

"You don't seem to have any problems when talking with me..." she pointed out, suspicious "Is there something you're hiding from me?" she was too smart...and I did not like it "But that is because you are special, Frisk: I feel like I can tell you anything I want, Frisk, that you are the perfect person to reveal yourself to." if she believed me now, she would always have.

She chuckled for a second before answering "Yeah, I feel like that too! It's so easy to talk with you, Asriel! You're the best friend I never had!" what a happy...and somehow ominous phrase.

After solving yet another puzzle (which was so simple I will not even bother to describe) we reached another small area: it was covered by snowpoffs, but there was also another one of those sentry posts on the side of the road.

"Asriel, I think I noticed something." Frisk caught my attention "Every time we fought a dog monster, there was one of these sentry posts. Even before, where we saw those dog sculptures, there was a sentry post on the side of the road."

"Was there? I do not think I noticed it..." I tried to remember, but evidently I did not see it "What about when we fought those two dogs with the huge axes? I am sure there was no sentry post there..."

"Actually, I think I saw two sentry posts built on the edge of a cliff a few areas before that one..." she admitted "I didn't warn you about those because you don't seem very interested in detours..."

If what she was implying was correct, then...there had to be a dog hiding somewhere in there too! All those snowpoffs...they were not random, they were hiding spots: the dog was most likely hiding in one of them, ready to attack us when we expected it the least...what a cunning scheme! For a dog, at least.

We walked slowly and quietly, afraid of all the snowpoffs in front of us: I kept my guard up the whole time and double-checked every pile of snow, but I did not find anything in any one of them; eventually, the only snowpoff that I had yet to check was the last one, which was standing right between us and a wooden bridge.

"You have got to be kidding me: is it really the last one?" a whole minute wasted trying to find a stupid dog in even stupider snowpoffs...

* **Did you really expect a dog to come up with better tactics?** * They asked me, ironic * **Besides, it's right between you and where you need to go: on a strategic level, it's technically correct.** *

I approached the snowpoff alone, suspicious: when I got enough close, the pile of snow began shaking...almost excitedly "Get ready, Frisk." I warned her calmly. A small puppy head popped out of the snowpoff, then an even smaller tail: was that the dog we were dealing with?

"It's so fluffy I'm gonna die!" Frisk was ecstatic "I wanna pet him!"

"Hmm...this is unexpected." I was unsettled: this all looked too easy...

In fact, I was not surprised at all when the dog lifted itself from the ground: the cute facade was a decoy, he was in fact wearing a humanoid iron armor that was at least twenty times bigger than him and he was carrying a huge spear. That would not have been easy.

"Is he still cute?" I inquired.

"Yes he is." Frisk answered calmly.

The dog leaped towards the human and she barely managed to jump away from him: the impact caused the nearby snow to fly up in the air only to fall back down a few seconds later.

"Are you still planning on ending this fight peacefully?" I asked Frisk, whose timer now signed three minutes "Yes, I do!" Frisk looked determined as always "But I need your help: can you please find me a tree branch or something like that?"

"Why should I do that?" I asked, perplexed.

* **Why? Why not? If you want to live by her rules, at least do it correctly and follow her every command!** * I was upset by their mocking words, but I understood the point: if I trusted Frisk once, I needed to trust her whenever she requested it "Okay Frisk, give me a second." I found a branch right beside me, lying in the snow at my feet. I tossed the branch at Frisk, who caught it mid-air, who then showed it to the dog.

* **Oh my God, please don't tell me she's...** *

She threw the branch a few feet away from her and the dog proceeded to retrieve it as fast as the gigantic armor he was wearing allowed him to; she repeated the action a few times until the dog became too tired to continue and sat exhausted right next to her.

* **Madness...this is madness...** * Chara expressed the concept to the best of their ability.

*And you are not even living it personally: imagine how I am feeling right now.* I agreed with Them.

* **I can feel your every emotion, idiot! This only makes me even more tired of this idiocy!** *

"Hey goat-bro! Look at me: I did it!" I approached her calmly as her timer disappeared "I told you I could do it!"

"You sure did." I congratulated her "You are getting better and better each time as well!"

The human patted the dog monster on his forehead, who returned the human's caresses by getting out of his armor (he was actually a normal dog in a big armor) and licked the human on her front, making her giggle. After the dog left, forgetting his armor in the process, we turned to the bridge: the town of Snowdin was right across it, soon we could have rested...

"Finally! I am _so_ hungry!" Frisk could not wait to eat something...

"I DON'T THINK SO, HUMAN!" Papyrus appeared in front of us out of nowhere: as he blocked the way to Snowdin town, he explained, a determined look on his face "I DID NOT WANT TO CAPTURE YOU _THIS_ WAY...BUT I WILL IF I MUST! PREPARE YOURSELF, BOTH OF YOU!"

I knew what he wanted: he had finally decided to attack us directly. But I was prepared, I would not have let Frisk fall in his cold skeletal hands.

* * *

"Hey Sans?" Dante beckoned me.

"Yeah? What is it?" I asked, tired.

"That's your brother, right?" He asked, curious.

"Yep, that's him." I answered, still tired.

"Aren't you worried that he's going to fight the girl? That he's going to fight the goat?"

I pondered about it for a second, then replied "Nah, not at all. They're all gonna be fine."

"Are you sure? Didn't you say that the goat was dangerous or something?"

"Yeah, he is...but he isn't the kind of person that would hurt my brother for something silly like this..." I shivered thinking about... _that_ "...At least, I hope he won't..."

The human didn't inquire further about it and instead asked "What about the weed? Are you seeing it anywhere?"

"I'm trying to figure out where he might be, but he's like...disappeared. Good thing you're over there, keeping an eye out on the girl and her...friend."

"Well, you taught me teleportation: it's the least I can do to repay you, right?" it scared me, how he could always be so inexpressive without even trying. This kid...was he that empty inside? So devoid of emotions?

"Let's be clear though: you don't want to find the weed just to repay me, right?" I asked, serious.

"Am I really such an open book?" he asked, sarcastic.

"Only when you want to be one." I answered, even more sarcastic.

"I want to experiment some new tricks: I'm still somewhat doubting this is all real, and I want to be sure it is...by punching that flower in the face!" finally, a glimmer of emotion! It was rage, of course...but at least he could still feel! That meant he was not a full-fledged bad guy, that he was not like...that _thing_. That one thing I saw in one of the reports.

"Well, I won't stop you from doing that." I told him, relaxed "As long as you hit only the bad guys, I'll let you do as you please..."


	11. Snowland (part 4): Papyrus

_I was in my room reading one of Papyrus' favorite books, "Advanced puzzle construction for critical minds" (don't get it twisted, I was reading it solely because I was bored and for no other reason) when I heard the front door bang open and my brother yelling "SANS, I'M HOME!"_

 _I didn't feel like getting off my bed, so I asked him aloud "Hi Papyrus. Did you have a good day?"_

" _AN AMAZING DAY, SANS! AMAZING! I FOUND OUT HOW TO PERFECTLY SET UP A PRESSURE-PLATE BASED PUZZLE! I AM SO PROUD OF MYSELF!" I could practically picture him hugging himself in the kitchen._

" _I'm proud of you too, Papyrus: you're making progress!" I didn't understand Papyrus' sudden love of puzzles, but I tried to act like a good brother should and show some attention "In fact, these days you're always working..."_

 _I heard Papyrus shout "SANS, DON'T EVEN-"_

" _...Down to the bone!"_

" _SANS I SWEAR!" I heard him yell from downstairs as he stomped the ground repeatedly with his boot; there was a horrible downside to being stuck under a mountain: after years of using and reusing the same exact jokes, they got boring and easily foreseeable. I knew that Pap had memorized all my lines a long time ago, but he always acted as if every time I used one it were the first. Another good reason as for why he was the best brother I could hope for._

" _Okay, now let me be serious: did you find a friend this time?" I asked, already knowing the answer to that question: "AS ALWAYS..." my brother answered, slightly disappointed. That meant that he had failed...as always. I couldn't understand why did no-one wanted to be Papyrus' friend: sure, he was eccentric, weird...maybe a bit egocentric as well, but he was still a wonderful person and he deserved to have at least one friend. Sometimes, things are just...not meant to be._

" _DO NOT WORRY, SANS: ONE OF THESE DAYS, I WILL RETURN HOME VICTORIOUS! I WON'T STOP IN MY RIGHTEOUS QUEST FOR FRIENDSHIP UNTIL SOMEONE FINALLY REALIZES HOW HAVING ME AS THEIR FRIEND WOULD BETTER THEIR LIVES!" Papyrus shouted from downstairs, determined._

" _I'm sure you will, Pap." as I tried to comfort him from my room, I tried to forget all the previous times he said that...they would've ruined my already bad mood._

* * *

"So, do you mind if I watch this fight for you? Keep in mind that I'm practically useless until that flower shows up once again..." despite his expression was still calm, he seemed...kinda excited.

"Sure, I don't see why you shouldn't." I allowed him to do as he pleased "There's another reason why you should stay near the fighting area: I want you to intervene if something happens to Asriel or Frisk."

"Wait, didn't you say that your brother was harmless?" he looked suspicious "Shouldn't I be watching over your brother as you originally said?"

"You still have to watch over my brother." I explained, a bit scared of what I was about to say "But this isn't where, in the other timelines, Frisk is supposed to fight him: she's supposed to go through the city, then past it and only then fight my brother. This isn't how history's supposed to unfold..."

"I still don't believe this whole "timeline" thing you explained before." he answered, still a bit suspicious "You said that you perfectly knew how things would've played out...but almost nothing that you foresaw happened. In fact, you never mentioned me appearing in any other "timeline" of yours either, or that sneaky flower for that matter..."

"That's because you weren't supposed to even come down here in the first place." I replied, afraid of his reaction. He didn't say anything, thankfully, and returned to his duty of being my eyes in the Underground; I wondered...was he saying the truth? Were there really no timelines at all, did we get it all wrong?

No, there was no way: _he_ was too skeptical to believe in something that could even be remotely false...I had to trust _him_. If we really did get it wrong then...monsterkind was doomed. Forever.

* * *

It was clear the skeleton was done playing tricks on us: he now wanted to attack us directly, without using traps or puzzles to facility. Still I waned Frisk to be careful with the skeleton "Be careful: he wants to hurt you, of that I am sure."

She turned towards me: she tried to look happy and carefree...but she was scared, even if only a little "Don't worry goat-bro, I'll be fine! He's Papyrus! He would never hurt me!" she looked like she wanted to give me an explanation...but it felt like she had forgotten it, or couldn't remember it "Look, I know it sounds weird but...trust me on this one, I'll be fine." she reassured me the best she could.

All I could do on my end was trust her as she trusted me a million times before.

As the human slowly walked towards the skeleton, he began talking "YOU HAVE ELUDED ALL MY TRAPS, SOLVED ALL MY PUZZLES...YOU EVEN OVERCAME THE TEMPTATION OF EATING MY DELICIOUS SPAGHETTI!" I had a few things to say about his pasta, but I let him continue "NOW, I SAID THAT I WOULD'VE LET YOU GO IF YOU DID ALL THAT...BUT THE TRUTH IS, I SIMPLY CAN'T! I AM TIRED OF BEING LONELY, I AM TIRED OF NOT HAVING FRIENDS! TODAY, THIS WILL CHANGE: I WILL CAPTURE YOU, AND THEN EVERYONE WILL WANT TO BE MY FRIEND!"

Frisk asked, confused "Why can't I be your friend? Why "them" and not me?"

The skeleton looked puzzled for a moment before answering, a bit saddened "I'M SORRY, HUMAN, BUT I CAN'T BE YOUR FRIEND! MY OTHER FRIEND INSTRUCTED ME TO NOT TRUST YOUR KIND: AFTER ALL, YOU HUMANS WERE THE ONES TO TRAP US DOWN HERE! THEY SAID THAT HUMANS ARE CUNNING, VICIOUS CREATURES, DESERVING ONLY TO BE CAPTURED AND BEATEN!" I was afraid the verb "beat" was being used as a synonym of "kill"...perhaps, he did not even realize what he just said.

"Who told you these idiocies?" she asked, befuddled.

"I'M AFRAID I CAN'T TELL YOU, HUMAN. NOW, PREPARE YOURSELF! YOU ARE ABOUT TO BE DEFEATED BY THE GREAT PAPYRUS!" Frisk's Soul exited her body and a timer appeared over her head: five minutes, just like when she fought Chara.

* **Oh, give me a break: he can't be** _ **that**_ **though!** *

[Touhou Mutsuigeki – Concealed the Conclusion: Locked Girl – The Girl's Secret Room ( watch?v=Vz4VpJKFamo)]

A small number of femur-like bones emerged from the ground right next to her and began moving towards her at a relatively-high speed: as she proceeded to dodge them all with ease, the skeleton kept ranting "I TRIED EVERY POSSIBLE WAY TO MAKE FRIENDS! I EVEN TRIED TO JOIN THE ROYAL GUARD!" for some reason, I doubted he ever managed to enter it: someone like him would have never made a great guard...he did not even seem capable of defending himself!

Frisk kept strafing left and right, and the skeleton did not stop talking "I EVEN TRAINED PERSONALLY WITH THE CAPTAIN, UNDYNE! HOWEVER..."

Some slightly bigger blue bones appeared alongside the normal ones and Frisk knew she had to stand still to dodge them "I DIDN'T DO ANY PROGRESS AT ALL...SO SHE STARTED TEACHING ME HOW TO COOK INSTEAD..."

The patterns where getting increasingly more complicated, but Frisk did not even break a sweat "EVEN THOUGH I NOW HAVE A DEEP PASSION FOR COOKING, THAT DIDN'T HELP ME MAKE FRIENDS AT ALL! I WANTED TO JOIN THE ROYAL GUARD TO BE POPULAR, NOT TO BECOME A CHEF!"

The skeleton started summoning other bones in its hands and threw them at Frisk as she was busy dodging, but he always missed "SO I LEFT THE GUARD, AND TRIED TO MAKE FRIENDS THE "NORMAL" WAY: GREETING PEOPLE, ASKING ABOUT THEIR DAY, DESPERATE TO FIND SOMEONE WILLING TO...UNDERSTAND ME...MAYBE EVEN LOVE ME..." he laughed, but I could feel the sadness in his tone of voice.

The number of bones being simultaneously launched at the human increased, the number of bones emerging from the ground: the patterns were getting more and more complicated, and Frisk was not acting as carefree as before "BUT NOW, A FRIENDLY GUY TOLD ME HOW TO MAKE MORE FRIENDS! AND YOU...YOU ARE THE KEY TO IT! SO PLEASE, SURRENDER AND GET CAPTURED!"

Frisk was sweating, the number of movements she needed to make in order to dodge a simple set of bones were too much for her: she was rapidly getting tired, and only a minute and a half had passed. Suddenly, she dropped to her knees as she tried to catch her breath. Unfortunately, six pillars made of huge bones emerged from the ground right next to her, trapping her "AHA! I HAVE DONE IT! YOU, HUMAN, HAVE BEEN-"

"That is enough!" I summoned a dozen dark flames and shot them at both the pillars and the monster who summoned them: the pillars got immediately destroyed as soon as they made contact with my powerful magic, but the skeleton managed to avoid all my attacks.

"Are you alright, Frisk?" I asked, preoccupied.

"A little tired...but I'm fine. Thanks, Asriel."

"Do not worry, everything is fine..." I turned towards the skeleton, who did not seem to like my intervention "...Almost."

* * *

Despite being slightly mad at Asriel for attacking my brother, I knew there was no point in getting angry: he had to do it to save the girl, and I was fine with that.

"He waited the right moment to strike, then attacked both the pillars and Papyrus..." the human commented, his voice a bit low "...That goat is a great tactician...and great warrior as well."

"Remember though, if he threatens the life of my brother...you have to intervene." I told him, a bit scared of what the outcome of that battle could've been.

"Sure, sure...I doubt I will need to do so, but sure..." he then focused his gaze on the girl, precisely on her timer and her pink Soul "Hey, what does that timer do?"

"Of that I'm unsure." I replied "She never possessed that power in the other timelines...I can only guess that something...uncommon happens once it reaches zero."

"Well, another good reason to believe all these "timelines" you speak of are fake." he tried to find a comfy position to watch the battle in, but the branch of the tree he was sitting on didn't give him a lot of choice "Either way, this is interesting. Let's see how it develops..."

* * *

"You..." I squinted at Papyrus, who looked extremely scared of me "You should be ashamed of yourself! Attacking a little girl...how disgraceful!"

"Hey, I'm not so little! I'm eleven years-old!" she tried to defend herself from my statement.

"Either way..." I cracked my fists and turned my gaze to Papyrus once more "I made a promise to your brother: to not hurt you. And, even though I despise you for trying to ruin our voyage ever since the beginning...I am determined to keep that promise! I shall defeat you once and for all, but without hurting you!"

* **And here I thought you were going to do something intelligent and attack that idiot...** * I would have liked to, I admit it, but I was not going to.

Frisk looked at me amazed, thankful that I was trying to solve the problem at hand using her own method "Frisk, listen to me closely: since you are too tired to dodge his attacks, I will protect you using my own. What I ask you is to try and end the conflict like you normally would, without exposing yourself to danger. Did you get all that?" she nodded at me, determined.

"MY BROTHER TOLD YOU SO?" the skeleton had regained his composure "WELL, IF YOU CAN'T ATTACK ME...YOU CAN'T WIN! VICTORY IS ASSURED! THANKS, BROTHER...WHEREVER YOU ARE RIGHT NOW..."

As more bones kept being summoned next to us, I had to look everywhere to foresee where the attacks would have come from and deflect them using my blazes: right from the start, it was very tough. While I defended us both from the skeleton's offensive, Frisk tried to convince him to stop "You don't need to capture me to make friends! Friendship is supposed to be...something more normal, that doesn't require anything else to be made! It's supposed to be...a bond that people make because they love to stay with each other...in a platonic way, of course. Right, goat-bro?" I did not know what to answer, since I did not have any other friends apart from her and Chara to begin with, and even if I knew what to answer I was too busy to say anything "Yeah, not the right time to ask, is it?" she understood it was not the right moment and returned to her conversation with the skeleton.

"BUT I TRIED EVERYTHING TO MAKE FRIENDS! THIS IS THE LAST OPPORTUNITY I HAVE LEFT! I'M NOT GOING TO WASTE IT!" he was being stubborn, but I could feel Frisk was getting closer and closer to stopping him.

"You don't need to capture me to have friends: I want to be your friend, but I'm not asking you to do anything else in return!"

* **She wants to befriend someone who wants to kill her...again. What an idiot...** * They commented in my head.

"I CAN'T BEFRIEND YOU, HUMAN: MY FRIEND TOLD ME THAT YOU'RE NOT TRUSTWORTHY! THAT YOU WILL HURT ME!" he was not completely sure of that, though.

"How can your "friend" say so? Did they meet another one before? Or are they simply assuming things? It looks like the latter to me..." she did it: the skeleton's attacks were becoming slower and easier to predict "BUT I...MAYBE YOU'RE RIGHT, BUT..."

"Your friend is either uninformed...or a huge liar! I'm not evil, I don't want to hurt you!" she turned to me and asked "Right, Asriel?"

Since stopping the skeleton's attacks had become much easier, I could afford to answer her "Of course Frisk, you are the most innocent human I have ever met."

* **You piece of shit! What about me?** *

*Can I really consider you "innocent"?* They thought about it for a second before realizing that "innocent" was not a very good adjective to describe Them at all. They would have probably preferred being called "realistic" or "smart" than "innocent"...something that They were not at all.

The attacks almost stopped as Papyrus asked "CAN I...CAN I REALLY BE YOUR FRIEND?"

"Of course!" she replied excitedly "You're a funny guy! It's always great to be around you!"

"I have to disa-" Frisk stunned me with her sharp gaze: it looked like she could cut right through me with her eyes alone. I had to lie...and to recover fast "I have to say that what she says is right! You are...funny...and a lot of other things..." I did not want to specify what I meant too much.

The bones stopped emerging and he stopped throwing them as well: it looked like we had won the battle "REALLY?" he looked ecstatic "WOWIE! NOW I HAVE NOT ONE, BUT TWO AMAZING FRIENDS!" I wanted to refuse his offering, since I did not have any intention of being friends with that weird guy...but Frisk's gaze told me otherwise.

Frisk's timer disappeared, signifying that Papyrus did not have any intention of attacking us anymore; we managed to defeat the monster by two minutes before the timer, something I was greatly proud of. I doubt I would have been able to survive for that long without...attacking him in return.

"THANK YOU HUMAN, FOR..." I thought he wanted to say "for being my friend", but I was mistaken "FOR FINALLY ACCEPTING THE GREATNESS OF THE GREAT PAPYRUS!"

*Of course...* I sighed in my mind.

* **Did you really expect him to say something else?** * They pointed out.

"HOWEVER, SINCE I'M NOW FRIENDS WITH YOU, I CANNOT CAPTURE YOU ANYMORE! AND THAT MEANS YOU TWO ARE THE ONLY FRIENDS I'LL EVER HAVE..." he looked a little depressed.

"Didn't I say before that you didn't need to capture me to make more friends? I will...yeah, I will show you how to make friends, so that you will never feel alone anymore!" she seemed a little nervous...I wondered why.

The skeleton recovered his cheerful attitude and thanked Frisk for the proposal; I intervened, however, saying "That is a wonderful idea...but Frisk, I believe we should first recover our stamina at Snowdin. After that is done, you are free to help him in any way you desire."

She approved my idea and Papyrus replied "BUT OF COURSE! FEEL FREE TO REST FOR AS MUCH TIME AS YOU'D LIKE! MEANWHILE, I WILL GO FIND THAT LITTLE MONSTER AND TELL HIM THAT I DON'T REQUIRE HIS ASSISTANCE ANYMORE." he ran away at the speed of light...for the umpteenth time.

How much stamina did this monster have?

As we began making our way to the village, Frisk asked me "So, Asriel...how do you make friends?"

I did not know how to answer that question "W-What? Frisk, why are you asking me this? I do not know how to answer!"

"Well, I'm asking you since...I kinda don't know, I never had friends before..." was she being serious? From her saddened expression, I understood she was "So, could you please help me with Papyrus?"

* **A blind who leads another blind makes both fall in the pit...** * Chara reminded me * **If you were smart, you would refuse.** *

"Frisk...I do not know where to begin! You are the kindest kid I have ever met, there's no way you do not know how to make friends!"

"I'm being honest, Asriel! I never made friends before!" she looked downwards, she did not want to talk about the subject "...Please, help me..."

I could not say no to her, especially when she looked like that...I had to answer "Yes."

She beamed with joy and hugged me tightly; *This is going to be one hellish task...* I sighed.

* **It sure will be.** *

* * *

"Well, that ended fairly quickly." Dante seemed disappointed "It's a shame, I want to see what that "Asriel" is truly capable of..."

"You know, you could at least try to show some emotions while saying it..." I commented, ironic "If you keep this up, I might start thinking you're the undead one between us."

"Touché." he answered, still calm "Either way, I don't care about "showing emotions"."

"Why?" I asked.

"They are useless." he replied "They prevent you from looking at reality objectively. Emotions blind you, they make you do things you really shouldn't do..." that was a bit shady, but I didn't inquire about it further.

However, I asked him "Anyway, mind following my brother? I have a bad feeling about this "friend" of his..." he followed my order and followed the trail of footprints his boots had left behind. I prayed he would've been able to reach Pap before...something else could.

* * *

After getting out of sight of the girl and the other monster, the skeleton started walking normally: he looked a bit scared, and had begun talking to himself very quietly "Capture the human...and I'll give you all the friends you want..." he was imitating someone else's voice, but I couldn't understand who did it originally belong to "If you fail at capturing her...just attack her until she falls to the ground..." was he only now realizing the true meaning of those words, I wondered?

" **Why, hello there!** " he stopped and turned around: that...flower had emerged from the ground a few feet away from him and was staring at him with that weird smile of his " **It's been a while, hasn't it?** "

"H-Hi! I, uh..."

" **I heard...** " the flower's expression began shifting " **That you became friends with the human!** "

"YES!" he regained his cheerful attitude "YOU SAID SHE WOULD'VE BEEN MEAN TO ME, BUT SHE WASN'T! WHY DID YOU TELL ME SUCH MEAN THINGS?"

" **Because...** " huge vines burst from the ground and enveloped the skeleton in a tight grip " **You were supposed to kill her! I gave you very,** _ **very**_ **simple instructions and you still managed to fail! You're such an idiot...** "

"KILL HER? I WOULD NEVER HAVE DONE IT!"

" **No you wouldn't have! Because you're weak, frail and useless! Well, not completely useless...** " the vines became tighter and the flower's grin kept expanding " **You are much stronger than everyone thinks, aren't you? But you're too "nice" to obtain what you want...** " the flower's grin was now as big as it's own face " **I, however, will know what to do with that power...once I steal it from your dead body!** "

"I don't think so, you little bitch." I jumped down from the tree I had been standing on, summoned my sword and cut down the vines that were blocking Sans' brother; I turned towards the flower and added "If you want him, you're gonna have to get through me first."

While the flower looked annoyed at my intervention, the skeleton looked not only surprised, but also ecstatic "WOWIE! ANOTHER HUMAN! AND THIS ONE SAVED MY LIFE TOO!"

"Hey. My brother sent me here." I greeted him, calm as ever "He said that I should take care of him: I, too, think that you should leave this place immediately."

"MY BROTHER SAID SO?" he looked a little upset "I WONDER WHAT HE'S DOING RIGHT NOW...BUT I'M HAPPY FOR HIM, SINCE HE MADE FRIENDS WITH ANOTHER HUMAN!" was he referring to me, I wondered? I weren't "friends" with the skeleton, I was simply helping him out...but Sans would've killed me if I said otherwise, so I let that one slide.

"ANYWAY, I HAVE TO GO NOW: THE HUMAN AND THE GOAT-BRO ARE SURELY WAITING FOR ME! BYE, HUMAN AND FLOWER!" he ran away as fast as he did before.

" **Seriously, he's such an idiot.** " the flower sighed " **I wonder why I even trusted him to begin with...** "

"Yeah, that was an error on your part." I commented "Either way, I won't let you get away this time: you will die right here, right now."

" **Oh, I don't think so...** " he summoned a few of his pellets " **It's round two, and I will make sure you won't survive it!** "


	12. Snowland (part 5)

" _So, are you enjoying your grilled tuna, Alice?" I asked._

" _Yes, of course I am. I never eat in this kind of...fancy restaurants, so I'm glad you invited me."_

" _Anything for you." she chuckled at my horrible pick-up line. I really wasn't good at those._

 _I was eating spaghetti with clams, and I desperately needed some good conversation topics. After about a minute of complete silence, I asked her, ironic "Did you know that you always pronounce my name wrongly?"_

" _Whatever." despite being in a foreign country, Alice never managed to pronounce Italian names correctly. I thought that it was the right time to teach her some culture "What, you don't even want to learn?"_

" _Not in the slightest." she looked at me mischievously "But, if you insist...I would rather learn something as stupid as that than talk about nonsensical things such as...politics, or football." we were very similar in that sense: we both hated talking about things that we didn't relate to at all._

" _Very well then: first off, I'll have you know that the correct pronunciation is "Dàntè" and not "Dontay" or "Dantay" as you Englishmen and Englishwomen commonly pronounce it." I explained it like a professor would, which made her chuckle: at least I was moving in the right direction._

" _Dan...tay- bloody Hell, I can't do it!" she was angry at her own incompetence. I would've laughed...if I were capable to._

" _Allow me to show you..." she squinted at me evilly, mad that I was trying to show her the right way "The first syllable, "Dan", is more or less correct. What's difficult is the second one, "te". It's a sound that is rarely used in English at all, usually without people even realizing it."_

" _I wonder why..." her stingy irony made her even more interesting than she already was._

" _Anyway, the "e" in Italian is pronounced like the "a" in English...with two noteworthy exceptions: it's shorter and it doesn't have that weird "y" at the end." she looked a bit confused at first, but she soon understood what I was talking about._

 _She soon managed to pronounce it right "Dan...te..."_

" _You did it." I clapped her, half seriously and half jokingly._

" _I did? I mean: of course I did, I can do anything..." she smiled at me, making me all warm and fuzzy inside. I didn't know what was happening to me...but I guess the right answer was "love". She was the first person in my life that I felt like I could be honest to._

" _Anyway, we haven't even finished our dinner!" she returned to her fish "Quick, finish your dish before it gets cold!"_

" _Why do you even care? I'm the one paying tonight." I leered at her, knowing what her answer would've been like._

" _What? No no no, I'm the one who pays: I won't let a bloody Italian pay for my dinner!"_

" _Can you even consider me Italian, I wonder?" I was more English than Italian, to be honest. However, she didn't consider me English at all: she said I lacked the "etiquette" or something like that. Like I cared..._

" _I consider you a huge idiot." she chuckled again as she added "But a good idiot at that. You're the nicest guy I've ever met, and I'm glad I spent this night with you."_

" _The night's still young, Alice." I pointed out "And I don't feel tired at all."_

" _Me neither." she answered. That was indeed going to be a long night._

* * *

Dante sure was getting excited about fighting that flower...sorta "This time, you ain't going anywhere."

I could see the whole thing through his sunglasses, and I was glad I had brought some pop-corns with me...and a whole lot 'a ketchup.

" **You seem rather confident...I will enjoy destroying your confidence!** " the flower grinned at him maliciously. The human didn't care about the flower's threat at all "It's only been an hour since you last got rekt: how strong do you really think you've become?"

" **Enough to kill you and harvest your Soul, at least! It's time I reclaim what is mine!** "

[Persona 3 - Mass Destruction ( watch?v=6peD5RnatZA)]

The flower summoned some of his white pellets and cast them at the human: they looked slightly bigger than last time...but I was confident Dante would've handled them with ease.

The human immediately summoned his black Soul and turned it into a giant black shield, enough big to cover him completely: all the projectiles got blocked and destroyed...just like last time.

"Good job." I congratulated him "Now attack!"

The shield disappeared in the blink of an eye and became something similar to...dark dust, which flew back to the human's right hand: there, it shifted shape and became a dark blade. He ran up to the flower as he was summoning more pellets and struck him with it.

Even though I wasn't with him directly, I could sense he had inflicted much more damage than last time...something was wrong with him. I tried to sense his LV through a program I had installed in the camera...my suspicions were proven to be true: his LV had increased, he was now roughly at twenty-five.

That unsettled me: the kid hadn't fought anything, apart from the flower...much less killed anyone. I wondered how did his Level of Violence increase if he didn't do anything...

I remembered the classification of LV my father had taught me: zero means they haven't killed anyone, five means they killed for self-defense, ten means they killed for reasons other than self-defense, fifteen means that they killed because they're used to solving all their problems that way...more than twenty means that they killed because they could've, without any further reason. He explained to me that there were no recorded instances of humans who had more than twenty...that it wasn't possible, that I had done my calculations wrong. *But computers never fail...can they?*

The human got careless and got hit by the flower's pellets: he suffered the hit, but he didn't look too hurt: it was likely his HP had increased with his LV...along with his attack power, of course.

The flower himself looked much stronger as well: he was resisting Dante's slashes much better than before, which made me wonder if there was a correlation between the two.

" **You are so annoying!** " the flower shouted " **Why can't you do me a huge favor and DIE already?** " he used a different kind of attack: three big golden flowers emerged from the snowy ground on the human's right and began shooting at him in a spiral-like pattern, which he needed to be mindful of; he summoned his shield and blocked the attacks coming from his right, earning him a second to breathe.

"Hey, how is your LV so high?" I caught the opportunity to ask him about it "You haven't killed anyone...and yet you're much stronger than before."

"I am?" he asked, calm as always "Huh, weird. You told me before I was at my strongest."

"Apparently, you weren't." and maybe, I thought, he wasn't at his strongest back then as well.

" **Who are you talking to?** " the flower's look was between the puzzled and the sarcastic " **That worthless comedian, perhaps? And here I thought you had something called "dignity"...you make me SICK!** " taking advantage of the fact that Dante was blocking the bullets coming from his right, he summoned some normal pellets and hit him frontally: the human stumbled backwards, but he managed to resist the attack...sorta. He was slightly bleeding, and the blood exited from the cuts in the kid's jacket...but he didn't seem impressed by it at all, and neither was the flower " **Resisting all my attacks like that...that's impressive. You truly are...** "

"Much better than you." the human finished sarcastically.

" **I NEVER WANTED TO SAY ANYTHING LIKE THAT!** " the flower raged.

"Heh, then what did you mean?"

" **You are similar to me...very similar. You have an insatiable bloodlust, an intense desire to kill!** " was he being serious, I wondered? I hoped he wasn't...

"An insatiable bloodlust...jeez, you surely talk big for someone as little as you are...that reminds me, what's your name again? I don't think you ever told me. Do you even have a name? I want to know so I know what to write on your grave..."

" **My name...like I will tell you my real name! However, if you want to know so desperately how to name the entity that ended your miserable, insignificant life, then I shall name myself...Flowey the Flower. Yeah, let's re-use that shitty-** "

"Flowey the-" he burst our laughing, like I never saw him do before "Hold the phone, you really want me to call you "Flowey the Flower"? You do realize that's so corny only a kindergartner would use it, don't you?"

" **You could always call** **me-** " the flower stopped upon noticing that the human wasn't paying attention to him anymore: he was still busy laughing about the terrible name he had chosen...and frankly, so was I.

" **Listen you little fuck, that's not my real name! I borrowed it! If you think you've got a better name, then say it right now! Tsk, since when did I start caring about little shit's opinions...** " he mumbled something more to himself, but I couldn't hear it.

"Do I really have to name you?" the human asked mockingly "Well then, from now on you'll be known as...the Flowery Bitch. Yeah, that sounds cool enough." both me and the kid chuckled, even though there was almost no reason to laugh at all. That kid had a sick sense of humor.

" **W-Why are you making fun of me? This is bullshit! Don't ever call me that!** "

"And what will you do to stop me?" the human invited the monster to attack him "Let me rephrase that: what will a Flowery Bitch like you do to stop _me_?"

" **You know what? DIE!** " the flower repeated the same pattern as before: some flowers blossomed on the human's left and attacked him remotely, but this time he didn't waste his time defending and ran up to the flower, dodging all the shots in the process.

He slashed the flower vigorously, inflicting a lot of damage " **Why, you-** " the human kept attacking: one, two, three cuts...until the flower retreated underground and emerged a dozen feet away " **Hey, that's not fair! It's my turn to attack!** "

"Hah! That's a good one...where in the world do you think we are, in a videogame?"

" **W-What's a videogame?** " the flower asked; I was asking myself the same question too.

"It's a bit complicated to explain. Anyway, you're not funny anymore: I think it's about time I end this charade."

" **Why, you little-** " just then I realized that the flower had taken a lot of damage from all those attacks: if the human kept striking like that a little more, he would've finally eliminated that flower.

"Keep going, Dante! You're almost done." I spurred him.

"Don't worry: I got this." he sprinted towards the flower and prepared himself to finish his target...but the flower disappeared underground before he could attack: he reappeared a few feet backwards and asked, mockingly " **Did you really think I would've just stood there and took the hit? You really are an-** " he stopped talking upon noticing the dark sword that had been launched towards him, which he managed to avoid just barely.

" **You know what? Fuck it, you're too annoying to deal with. This isn't even my final form! But I swear, it's only a matter of time before I consume you and that little bitch...then the world...no, all worlds will be mine!** " the flower laughed maniacally before disappearing under the ground.

* * *

"Did I win?" I asked the skeleton.

"Yeah, you did." he replied "Temporarily, but you did. Maybe you didn't kill that Flowery Bitch...but that's something we can work on. Good job." I was a bit surprised that the skeleton adopted the nickname as well, but I didn't pay too much attention to it "You know, this is actually kinda fun. I wish I had some...taller opponents though. Ones that are more difficult to hit, that provide a fair challenge...wow, am I really saying that? I've been here for an hour or so and I already feel like I'm in an RPG."

"What's an "RPG"?" the skeleton asked, curious.

"Role-playing games. It's a bit weird to explain...especially considering I'm talking to a monster right now."

"How so?"

"Uh...you don't want to know it." I tried to talk about something else "Anyway, you said something before about my "LV" having increased. You briefly mentioned that before, but...can you explain it to me once more?"

"Sure: "LV" stands for "Level of Violence", a way to measure the predisposition to resorting to violence that a person has. The higher the level, the more dangerous a person is."

"And you said my "LV" was...twenty?" I remembered him saying so in the beginning, at least.

"It was twenty...now it's twenty-five." the skeleton didn't look too happy about the news "You see, the way "LV" increases is...complicated. Basically, every time you kill someone, you gain "XP"."

"Please, don't tell me it stands for "Experience Points"..." if it did, then there was no excuse: I was in a goddamn video-game.  
"It doesn't: it stands for "Execution Points"." I wasn't sure if to be glad or scared of that explanation "A way to measure the pain you've inflicted to others, that's what they are. However...you seem to have gained them by doing absolutely nothing." he went silent for a while before continuing "You know, I'm not sure if to trust you anymore: you seem...rather shady."

"Says the guy who's monitoring me constantly like if I were on "Big Brother"." I remarked "Either way, you _need_ me, don't you? You have to rely on me...else, you would've dealt with that prick by yourself."

He didn't say anything for a while, but then he answered "I do need you, yes. I'm afraid of altering the timeline even more if I intervene directly...look, I'm gonna be honest here, something that I've never been in years: I'm scared of you. I'm really scared of you. And yet...I'm forced to trust you. So please...do me a favor and don't betray that trust, ever."

Trusting a complete stranger...he had to be really desperate to do it. However, I wasn't a dick and I didn't have any reason to backstab him, so I promised him that I wasn't going to do so.

"Anyway, do you think that flower will try to have his revenge on Papyrus for betraying him?" I asked, calm.

"It's possible." Sans' tone of voice was a bit worried "I need to check on him real fast. Do you mind returning to your job of spying on Frisk and Asriel?"

"So, you're admitting that I'm spying on them." I pointed out.

"Touché. Now get back to work." the line went mute, so he had probably ran off somewhere...or teleported, perhaps. Anyway, I had another reason to check on those two idiots: without Sans keeping me in check, perhaps..I could've talked to the girl, and maybe convinced her to come with me.

* * *

I spied on the them from far away, from atop the branch of a tree relatively distant from the village: it looked like they were having fun with the tall skeleton...they looked happy. Maybe I should've joined them. Bah, who am I kidding: I wouldn't have met them like that...and even if I did, I wouldn't have played with them even if they payed me to do it. I wasn't like that at all...

Without anything better to do to pass the time, I grabbed my phone from my jacket's pocket (it was a miracle it hadn't been damaged in the fight) and connected it to my headphones: then, I searched in my music app for a good song...I found it in no time.

It was a favorite of Alice, which was surprising since she hated almost every song in a language she didn't understand...I so wanted her near me now.

The view was amazing.

* * *

[Fedez – Magnifico ( watch?v=RELQXv8m_cc)]

"E gli anni passano e non ci cambiano, [Years go by and they don't change us,]

davvero trovi che sia diverso? [do you really find me different?]

Guardami in faccia i miei occhi parlano, [Look into my face, my eyes are speaking,]

e tu dovresti ascoltarli un po' più spesso [and you should listen to them more often]

sorridi quando piove, sei triste quando c'è il sole, [you smile when it's rainy, you're sad when it's sunny]

devi smetterla di piangere fuori stagione, [you gotta stop crying off-season,]

dai proviamo e poi vediamo che succede, [come on let's try and see what happens,]

per ogni mia parte che ti vuole for every [part of me wanting you]

c'è un'altra che retrocede [there's another one retreating]

sapessi quante ne ho viste di scalatrici sociali [if only you knew how many social climbers I've seen]

regalano due di picche [they give you twos of spades]

aspettando il re di denari [waiting for a king of diamonds]

quante volte a un mio "ti amo" [so many times I told you "I love you"]

hai risposto "no non posso" [and you replied "no I can't"]

hai provato dei sentimenti [you tried some feelings]

e non ti stanno bene addosso. [and they didn't fit you at all.]

Parliamo allo stesso modo [We speak the same way]

ma con diversi argomenti, [but with different arguments,]

siamo nello stesso hotel [we're in the same hotel]

ma con due viste differenti [but with two different views]

l'amore è un punto d'arrivo, una conquista... [love is a point of arrival, a conquest...]

Ma non esiste prospettiva [But there's no perspective]

senza due punti di vista... [without two points of view...]

Anche se, fuori tutto è magnifico... [Even though, everything's magnificent outside...]

Non lo prenderò come un rimprovero... [I won't take it as a reproach...]

è possibile abbia sogni sbagliati, [it's possible I have wrong dreams,]

un po' illusi al momento... [a little deceived at the moment...]

Mi appartengono..." [They belong to me...]

* * *

Even though I tried to sing the song to the best of my ability, I sucked at it. Italian Rap isn't about words, but about sentiment, and I wasn't capable of showing my emotions very well. It was emotion's fault that I became what I was...if only I started viewing life like that when I was a kid...then all my problems would've been solved. But we all learn too late, much too late...I learned how to love at twenty, for example. And not how to love a girlfriend, don't be mistaken, but how to love anyone.  
Alice was the only one I could trust, the only reason why I existed...I missed her so much. But I had a job to do, so she had to wait...I prayed to be able to return to my world before she could notice my disappearance.


	13. Snowland (part 6)

Chapter 14: Friends

" _Mom?" I beckoned my mother._

" _Yes, my child?" she asked me with that sweet voice of hers._

" _Exactly, how do you...make friends?"_

 _We were tending to the flowers in the Throne Room, alone: my father had gone to Snowdin and planned to stay there all day-long since he had some "royal business" he had to attend to._

 _Mom began giggling, which upset me a little bit since I thought I asked her a very serious question "Oh, my child...why are you asking me this?" she asked me kindly._

" _Well, it has been a month since school began..." I explained her "...And, apart from Chara, I have not made a single friend. Not even one...I have to be doing something wrong."_

" _Asriel, have you ever considered trying to ask people you really like to be your friends? Usually that works..."_

" _No, I...I do not want to do that..." I backed away, a bit scared to even think about that "It will look like I am begging them to befriend me, and I do not want that at all..."_

" _How can you be so sure? At least someone must be willing to be friends with you..." she stopped watering the flowers and I stopped as well: the conversation had become much longer than I had expected, and I believed it was time I payed full attention to my mother's advice...and I told her the whole truth "Chara told me that I should never ask anything to anyone, because I will look weak...I do not want to look like a beggar, but I do not want to be alone either. It is not fun to be alone..."_

 _She paused for a second, unsure as to what to say: my mention of my sibling was what unsettled her the most. She then finally said "While what your sibling says is correct, to some extent at least, I must remind you that all relationships require someone to make the first step. You don't have to beg them to be your friend: you just have to ask them kindly."_

" _But mom, what if they do not like me? What if they reject me?" I inquired, a bit worried._

" _You cannot be friends with everyone, Asriel. However, making friends is the first step in understanding the world around you..." she looked elsewhere for a second, a bit sad "...Despite how small and restrictive it is" she returned to her usual attitude "...So, you have to do it, in my opinion."_

 _I nodded and returned to my gardening duty, my mother following soon after: we were doing a fine job, one that I was sure dad would have been proud of._

* * *

We had been waiting under the gigantic tree in the middle of Snowdin for a while now, waiting for Papyrus to show up. A few minutes before, I left Frisk alone to go buy some "cinnamon bunnies" from a local shop owned by a friendly-looking white rabbit: however, I did not have enough money to pay her, so we agreed to delay the transactions until later that day. Thankfully, she did not recognize me...to be honest, none of the monsters really did: I was glad, it would have been a catastrophe if anyone found out my true identity. Soon after, I reunited with Frisk and together we sat under that big tree to eat our meal.

"I've never seen a Christmas Tree this huge." Frisk pointed out, a few tears streaming down her eyes; she quickly dried them and apologized "Sorry, I just...remembered something."

"What did you remember?" I asked, curious. Since she did not seem likely to answer, I asked instead "Were they good memories or bad ones?"

"Good ones." she did not want me to inquire further, so she cut the conversation short "That's why...that's why they hurt so much."

A short period of silence ensued. Frisk returned looking at the tree and stated "I once dreamed of decorating...a huge Christmas Tree...together with my mom. Lots of other stuff happened, but..that's all I remember." that seemed interesting enough.

"When did you have this dream, if I may ask?" I asked her, careful.

"I dunno, some years ago I think..."

"How can you remember a dream that you had years ago? I cannot even remember what I dreamed last week!" I laughed nervously.

"It's one of the best dreams I've ever had." she answered, calm but happy "I swore a long time ago to my mom to keep all my important dreams close...to not forget all the emotions they transmit me...because, if I do, they'll never come back."

* **I don't get it: dreams aren't important at all! In fact, they're useless! Are you really that stupid?** * Chara's ranting distracted me * **All your hopes, all your dreams...what are they good for really? All they do is deceive you, make you believe in a false reality that will never happen, that you'll never live in...the only thing they leave behind when they expire is the sadness and dissatisfaction of not having been able to fulfill them, even though it was impossible...** *

"Asriel, are you still here?" Frisk beckoned me "Were you distracted by something?"

I fell from the clouds and said the first thing that came to mind "Sorry, They told me a-" I covered my mouth with my paws as soon as I realized it: I decided never to tell her the whole truth about Chara, but apparently my subconscious was not as well-trained at keeping secrets.

"What did "They" tell you, if I can ask?" she inquired, inquisitive.

* **Come on, tell her!** * They urged me to explain her * **I really want to know how she'll react to it...how she will respond to it.** *

"Well, if you insist..." I turned towards Frisk, who had widened her ears solely for me "They said that dreams are not only useless, but counter-producing: that they deceive you by making you believe you can make the impossible reality...in vain." I explained it as closely as They did, just to make sure that They would not have anything to say against me.

She thought about it for a while, pensive, before answering "Maybe They're right, I guess. Maybe, if they don't take you anywhere...if they're just flat-out dumb...I mean, I see myself becoming a singer, a dancer, a medic, a competitive video-gamer, a sportswoman..."

"A-Are you done?" I asked, overwhelmed by her list of possible jobs that was surely a lot longer. Moreover, I only knew a handful of the jobs she mentioned...the others were completely unknown to me.

"Oh, right...either way, while I can see myself as any of those things, I...I can't be everything. But dreams can be positive too, you know! They give you the strength necessary to achieve at least some of them...so they can't be completely useless!" she punched the air above her enthusiastically, which inspired cheerfulness in me for some reason.

* **And here I thought she was actually going to say something decent...** * Chara mumbled in my mind * **Why do I never learn that she never, ever says something intelligent? She's too stupid to be reasoned with...** *

"Oh, look! Papyrus' over there!" Frisk pointed at something in front of her.

"Oh, look! Papyrus' over there!" Frisk pointed at something on our left: indeed, something was running towards us at considerable speed...it was obviously Papyrus. He managed to brake just in time to avoid crashing with us.

"WHY, HELLO MY FRIENDS! I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU!" was he being serious just now, I wondered?

"Actually, I believe _we_ were the ones waiting for you..." I pointed out annoyed, trying to sound as polite as possible.

"OH, RIGHT." apparently, "that" was his excuse "EITHER WAY, I DID ALL I HAD TO, SO NOW WE CAN BEGIN MY TRAINING!" he said excited.

At first I did not understand what he was talking about, but then I remembered "Oh, right! Frisk promised to teach you how to make friends...Frisk?" I realized she was sweating copiously and eating her nails nervously, so I shook her and made her fall from the clouds before she could damage her fingers too much.

"O-Oh...right...making friends, huh...yeah..." she was at a loss for words, from the looks of it. Suddenly, her face lit up "But of course! I was going to teach you how to make friends...with Asriel's help, of course!"

I did not know what to say, her sudden reaction was completely unexpected on my part "W-What? Do not count me in, I have zero experience at "making friends"!"

"UH, HUMAN...WHO IS THIS "ASRIEL" THAT YOU SPEAK OF?" the skeleton inquired, puzzled.

*Is he really so dumb?* I wondered.

* **I told you...** * Chara replied without me wanting Them too.

"I am Asriel!" I yelled quietly at Papyrus, hoping that other passerbies would not have heard me.

"WAIT, WASN'T YOUR NAME "GOAT-BRO"?" he again asked, idiotic as only he could be.

"That is only a nickname she gave me! And a stupid one at that too!" Frisk laughed at my burst of ire, which made me even more angry.

"SO, YOU GAVE HIM A "NICKNAME" BECAUSE HE'S YOUR FRIEND? WOWIE! I'VE JUST LEARNED SOMETHING NEW ABOUT FRIENDS: THAT THEY GAVE EACH OTHER COOL NICKNAMES!" Papyrus commented enthusiastic.

Also, I noticed that he had not reacted at all upon hearing my real name: perhaps he did not know about me, or simply could not recall...either way, that could only benefit me.

As the skeleton kept praising us for our "helpful" advice, Frisk whispered in my ear, terrorized "Please Asriel, I don't know what to do! I need help or else...I-I...I might just ruin his life!" thankfully, the skeleton's loud voice prevented him from hearing us.

"I do not know either! You are asking the wrong person for help!" I whispered to her in return.

"Come on! I just know that, if we do this together, we might just make it!" I had a sneaking suspicion she was asking me for help more because she did not want to fail alone than because she really believed that she could have taught him better if I helped her.

"SO, MY FRIENDS, WHEN CAN WE START OUR TRAINING SESSION?" the skeleton asked, impatient.

I sighed and prepared myself for what I was about to say "We..."

* **Oh my fucking...you can't be serious!** * Chara yelled at me before I could even conclude.

"...We are ready, let us begin your lesson." I told him extremely fast, as if I were walking on burning coals.

* **Good job, you freaking idiot! Now you've lost all the respect I had left in you...** * not a huge problem, I thought, considering They still were not fond of me for agreeing to the travel in the first place.

Frisk's face radiated happiness and gladness, but before we could start we had to make some...adjustments: "Before we start, I would be pleased if you could lower the tone of your voice...a lot." I told Papyrus "As it stands, your voice is so high-pitched that everyone that listens to you loses their hearing after only one minute of conversation..."

"Asriel!" Frisk looked at me as if I had just said the worst blasphemy that could ever be imagined; she was probably mad at me for pointing it out so...rudely, but I believe it had to be done.

"WELL, WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY THAT SOONER? OF COURSE I CAN LOWER THE TONE OF MY VOICE FOR MY FRIENDS!" he proceeded to decrease the volume of his own voice until we felt like it was good enough "Is this okay?" he asked.

"Perfect!" Frisk congratulated him.

"WOWIE! I mean...wowie." he corrected himself "It's so difficult to even hear myself...but I will do it if it helps me make more friends!" was that the reason why he always spoke so loudly, I wondered, because he could not even hear himself? Well, he was a skeleton: he did not have ears to begin with, after all. Either way, I was fine with his current tone of voice.

"Are there any more "adjustments" we need to make?" he asked, eager to proceed.

"I do not think so: perhaps your style could need some improvements...but I do not consider clothing as important as actual personality." I commented, with Frisk approving soon afterwards.

"Why, I'll have you know what I'm wearing right now is my "battle armor"! The coolest piece of clothing I have in my entire repertoire!" that was not very promising, I thought "Nobody would ever ditch me because of it!"

* **I have something to say about that...** * I had too, to be honest, but I was not going to tell him.

Frisk was glad we were not having too much difficulties teaching the skeleton basic things about friendship, and was actually kind of eager to continue her lesson "Now that's all set up, why don't we find you a nice guy to be your friend?" she scouted her surroundings looking for potential friends for her pupil "Aha! Found one!" she pointed her index finger at a young, small yellow monster with lizard-like features and scales emerging from the back of his blue and yellow striped sweater, which had no sleeves for some reason...I figured out soon enough that that was because he did not have any arms. Monsters' physiology, as I believe already I mentioned before, is not quite like humans': all monsters are unique and form their unique species, while they do still make part of larger "families" that share common traits, such as wings, fins...or scales, in that case. It is not uncommon for a monster to be born without certain limbs, or to be born with more limbs than necessary either...but it always unsettled me to see monsters living while missing entire limbs I possessed. However, the cheerful look on the kid's face made all my anxieties go away.

"Your job is to meet that kid and become his friend!" Frisk told Papyrus.

"What a cunning and devious scheme, human!" from the looks of it, he was being serious "But how should I greet him? How should I converse with him? Should I bring him a plate of my delicious spaghetti? Undyne says that everything can be solved by being decisive..." he kept on mumbling things.

Since Frisk was at a loss for words, and frankly I did not know what to say either, I tried to remember what my mother told me when I was a kid and parroted her "Have you ever considered simply walking over to them and asking them to be friends with you? Usually that works..." Frisk eyed me as if I had unexpectedly said the most intelligent thing on Earth.

"That seems like a great plan!" Papyrus commented excitedly. He proceeded to repeat the plan aloud "So, I will approach him and ask "Do you want to be friends with the great and mighty Papryus?" and then he will say yes...is that all there is to know?"

* **He will get rejected immediately.** * my sibling laughed at him * **There's no better way to introduce yourself to someone than to flat out tell them that you're an idiot!** *

They were right, I needed to dissuade him from taking such a...direct approach "Actually, why do you not introduce yourself simply as "Papyrus"?"

"Why should I do that?" he asked, confused "This way, they won't know how great I am!"

"Actually..." Frisk came to my rescue "I heard people hate to know that someone is greater than them...because they're envious, that's why! So please, don't tell him how great and awesome you are!" a sloppy excuse, I thought, but it seemed to work just fine: the skeleton drank it without thinking twice about it.

"Wowie, thanks human! Without your help, I would've ruined our friendship from the beginning: I don't want my friends to be envious of my greatness!"

* **Won't you shut up, for crying out loud?** * I believe both me and Chara were thinking the same thing, even though only They expressed it.

"Well then, I'm off! Wish me luck, my dear friends!" the skeleton ran to the monster as fast as the wind itself and began conversing with him. We were too far to hear them, both fortunately and unfortunately: a part of me wanted to know what they were talking about...and the other one simply did not.

"Anyway, thanks! I wouldn't have made it without your help!" Frisk thanked me as she hugged me tightly. I welcomed her as I tried to escape her grip, since I was having some troubles breathing.

"Do you think he'll be fine on his own?" Frisk asked me a bit worried.

"I believe so." I turned towards the skeleton and the kid once more: since they were still conversing, it looked like Papyrus really did make a friend.

"You are an excellent teacher." Frisk complimented me.

"Oh, I am no teacher..." I blushed away her compliment "I simply told him what my mother told me a long time ago: she is the real teacher between us..."

"Your mom is a teacher?" she asked me, interested.

"Well, when she's not busy...attending to her duties, she works as a teacher at one of the most famous schools for preschoolers in the whole Underground." I did not lie to her: my mother really did work as a teacher. However, I omitted that she also worked as the Queen of monsterkind...

"Say, where did you learn everything that you know?" I asked the human "Someone as intelligent as you must have been taught at a prestigious institute on the Surface..."

"Actually...I was homeschooled. I don't even know how schools work on the Surface to be honest..." I did not find it hard to believe that a prodigious kid such as her had been homeschooled for the totality of her life.

"If I may ask, who was your teacher?"

"My mom was." she answered me calm.

"Interesting..." so her mother had been her teacher...was. She _was_ her teacher...I wanted to believe so anyway. "What has she taught you so far?"

"Well, apart from advanced knowledge of all main subjects, I've been taught almost all major languages, such as English, French, Spanish, Italian, German, Russian...even defunct tongues such as Latin and Ancient Greek." honestly, I had never heard of such speeches: the only languages that monsters knew were what humans called "English", which was what humans spoke before our fall and what we eventually adopted as our own language, and our ancient mother tongue whose name had been forgotten and that nobody used anymore. Nowadays, it only appears in old scripts and runes, and most monsters do not even know how to speak or read it properly; however, it is still taught at school to this day, even if not very accurately.

"I have never heard of these tongues." I admitted.

"Really? They're spoken all over the world!" only then she remembered that a barrier prevented monsterkind from exploring the Surface "Well, it's not like it makes such a difference for me either..." she admitted, a bit sad "...I'll never see all those places anyway..."

I was going to inquire her further, but Papyrus returned before I could "I'm back! And I've got great news I'm sure you'll want to hear: I made a friend!"

Both me and Frisk were happy for the skeleton (I surely was, for he would have stopped bothering us) and asked him what happened.

"Well, I approached the kid and introduced myself, but before I could ask him to be my friend he asked me if I were "that weird skeleton hanging out on a regular basis with Undyne"...even though that was not how I would describe me I told him yes, and he immediately became much happier and enthusiastic..."

* **Am I the only one who thinks this kid had an ulterior motive to becoming friends with this idiot?** * it was a bit early to judge, but They could have been right.

"Anyway, we kept talking for a while about her and eventually, HE was the one who asked to be my friend! I swear, this is the best day of my life!" it very well could have been: he was beaming with joy "I don't think I would've made it without your help! Thanks, human and goat-bro!" apparently, he was not going to let go of that stupid nickname just yet.

"Don't worry, we only helped you find out what was already inside your heart." Frisk explained.

"But human, I don't have a heart!" he laughed at his own joke, and so did she. I, however, stayed silent: I did not find that funny in the slightest.

Either way, we waved our goodbyes to the skeleton and proceeded down the road to Waterfall.

* * *

"Look who's leaving..." I put both my phone and my headphones away. Sans hadn't returned yet.

"I think it's about time I pay these two a visit..." I told myself as I eyed the cave in the distance: that's where the nearest "shortcut" was, apparently. I concentrated for a while before reaching my destination in a black flash.

* * *

"So, where are we going next?" Frisk asked me.

"We are moving towards an area called "Waterfall". As the name implies, it is full of cascades and rivers: I am sure you will find it rather intriguing." it had been a while since I last visited Waterfall: I was sure it would have been entertaining for me as well.

"I've never seen a waterfall before." Frisk explicated "Mom always said that waterfalls are magical places, that their beauty is unmatched by anything else Nature created..."

"Wow, was your mother a poet as well?" I asked chuckling.

"I dunno, I should've asked her..."

The cave that led to the river-filled area entered our field of view: a few more minutes and we would have entered Waterfall...however, something stood on the way.

A black figure, probably wearing a robe from the looks of it, stood in the middle of the road. I was not quite sure of _what_ it was...but it did not look promising. The figure began moving towards us, and I immediately recognized what that thing was: not a monster, as reason would have led me to believe...but a human. I could not believe my eyes, there was no logical explanation for what I was looking at. He was tall, slim, had short black hair and gray eyes. He wore only black and gray clothing, which gave him a grave aura accentuated by...something in his character.

"Hi." he greeted us, inexpressive.

"Asriel, who is he?" Frisk asked me.

"You should be the one telling me..." I answered, not sure of what to say.

* **Can you feel it?** * Chara asked me.

*What?* I replied, even more scared.

* **I can sense...something coming from him. There's something...familiar about him...but it's shrouded by an endless darkness that I cannot see through. I recommend extreme caution, I don't know who or what we're dealing with...** * if my sibling was scared of something (other than a twelve-year old)...well, you should already know how that phrase ends.

I had to be wary of this guy.

I tried to greet him as politely as I could, as to not upset him "Well, greetings, traveler! I am Asriel and my friend here is Frisk. We-"

"Hold on for a second." he asked me to stop "I believe you're forgetting about someone."

If I had blood, it would have froze in my veins "W-What are you t-talking about?"

"I heard..." he smiled evilly "That there's someone else listening to my words...someone who's _inside_ of you..." I swallowed that piece of information with as much calm as the current situation could allow me to. For a second, I saw a black light flicker in his right eye, but it disappeared soon afterwards. He continued "Moreover, even if I had not heard about "Them" in advance, I can sense...something dark coming from inside of you. I don't know how to describe it, but I do know it's causing...fear in me. And I don't like it at all."

He cracked his fists and waited for me to say something.

"Tell me what do you want and go away before I reduce you to ashes." I threatened him as I pulled Frisk behind me, out of harm's way.

"Well, I only want two things: first, I want to converse with the girl over there..." he pointed towards Frisk, who shivered at the thought "...But that can wait, I think. More importantly..." something black and cold exited his body: his Soul, perhaps? It did look like one, but it was of a deep black that I had never seen before. The Soul shifted shape and soon became a long blade, which made me ten times more afraid of him "...I want to spar with you."


	14. Snowland (part 7): Trust

" _Hey Dante, have you seen my necklace?" she asked me._

" _Don't you have it on?" I asked, half-expecting her to say "yes"._

" _Of course not! I must have dropped it somewhere..." wow, I thought, we had just moved in and she had already lost something valuable. Go figure._

" _Okay, let's stop for a second and look for it. Where do you think you might have lost it?"_

 _She took a while to answer but eventually she said "Either in the living room or in the kitchen."_

" _Okay, keep searching in the living room: I'll search in the kitchen." losing something important right now...she had never been a lucky person. That is one of the most scary things that can happen when you're moving in a new house, and it happened to us of all people._

 _I searched everywhere in the kitchen for that goddamn ornament: I opened every drawer, looked in every shelf, even looked under the furniture to see if she might have dropped it...nothing. However, as I was wasting my time doing that favor for my girlfriend, I stopped and asked myself a question that I had asked myself a million times before: why did Alice love me? What could she possibly find attractive in...me? Now, I know it might seem like a pretty random question in that circumstance...but there was a reason, trust me._

 _Either way, I stopped and asked my lover "Alice?" she emitted a small sound, which meant I could continue "Why have you decided to come live with me?" not exactly what I wanted to ask her, but close enough._

 _Soon after, I heard a crashing noise coming from the living room: she had to have dropped something...not the first time that happened either. I just hoped it wasn't anything important. Either way, she asked me in return "Why are you asking me this?"_

" _Well, I...I don't know how to explain it. I just...can't figure our why could you possibly choose_ me _out of all people..."_

" _Are you seriously asking me this? Right now too?" she preferred to answer me from the uncertainty of the other room._

" _Look, I...I want a straight answer. And I want it now." I tried to sound imposing, but it didn't work very well._

" _Because I love you, you idiot!" too simple, in my opinion._

" _Be more specific, please."_

" _Specific? Oh, that's funny." she sounded a bit angry "Look, I love you and that's it. I need you in my life, nothing more and nothing less. Is there a more "specific" explanation than that?" I wished there were, to be honest._

" _But...why? I'm nobody important, you could've found someone better than me."_

" _Ha! That beats them all, for sure." she entered the kitchen and looked at me lovingly "We've been together for...what? Six months, maybe more? You've seen who I really am, you know I'm not the kind of woman you kiss and then leave the next day: I require patience in a man, because I don't have it. And you, well...you're the first bloody guy I've met that meets all my standards. Plus, you're attractive: that's always find to find in a man."_

" _So...you chose me because there was no-one else?" I asked, a bit calmer._

" _I suppose that's one way to look at it..." she approached me and continued "...Either that or you could believe there's no-one like you. Your call, big boy." she hugged me and finally said "I need you, I'm nothing without you...and, if you really love me, it should be like that for you as well. So please, stop plaguing yourself with this bloody paranoia."_

" _I will." I promised her._

 _We returned to our search, until I eventually asked her "Anyway, what fell in the living room a moment ago?"_

" _Nothing important, just a few plates I was about to bring in the kitchen..." she seemed a bit nervous, and I knew perfectly why "Did my...favorite plate fall too? The one with the black rose painted skillfully in the middle and the petals all around?"_

" _Perhaps..." she squeaked lowly._

" _I'll give you three seconds before I come and kill you."_

" _Oh for..." I heard her run outside in the garden and I immediately ran off after her: I would've made her pay for that offense...or probably just scare her to death and let her go. I wasn't_ that cruel _!_

* * *

"Let me understand what you are asking me: you want to fight me, is that correct? And for what reason, I wonder?" I asked him curious.

"Because I feel like it, that's all." he simply answered "Don't worry, I'm not interested in attacking the little girl...I'm not a jerk. And I'm not interested in claiming your head either, so we won't fight to the death. But I do request to talk with...Frisk for a while after we're done sparring."

I briefly consider all my options: I could agree to the man's proposal and fight, deny his request and move on or even run away if he decided to attack us after I negated my consent...I also needed to consider how suspicious this man was and how powerful he seemed when making my judgment. This was not an easy decision to make.

Eventually, I answered "I formally accept your challenge, and we may begin in a moment."

"Wait, what? Asriel, you can't be serious!" Frisk told me, scared.

"Do not worry, I will be fine." I reassured her.

* **Finally! Oh my God, you've got no idea how long I've waited for this moment!** * They seemed to be aching for a fight, no matter who I was going to fight.

Now, I was more than confident that I would have been able to beat this human: I was, theoretically at least, more powerful than any human could ever imagine...this man, however, did not seem to mind, or perhaps had never been informed of how dangerous a monster who possessed a human Soul could be.

Either way, I told Frisk to hide behind a tree a dozen feet away from the road: once she left what was soon going to become a battlefield, I summoned some black fireballs and warned the human "This is your last chance to back away: are you sure you want to fight me?"

"Of course I am." he answered inexpressive "Never backed away from something in my whole life, to be honest. Your move, goat-bro."

[Touhou Embodiment of Scarlet Devil - Lunar Clock/Lunar Dial ( watch?v=m1nRuWqW09Q)]

I launched my fireballs at the human, whose Soul quickly shifted from a heart into a large shield and managed to block my attack effortlessly: now, I could've asked him how could he do that...but instead, I asked him, a bit embarrassed "How do you know that stupid nickname?"

"I've been following you for a while." he explained nonchalantly.

I tried using that attack again, in vain "Since when? When did you begin spying on us?" he again blocked it as he answered "An hour or so ago, some time after I had a feeling I was not in America anymore." I heard Frisk chuckle from her hiding spot, which meant that he had just said something funny...not understanding the joke did not surprise me at all: the humor from the Surface was incomprehensible to me.

I decided to change my pattern: instead of attacking him from the front as I did before, I sent two waves of fireball after him, coming from both his sides. He had only one shield, so there was no way he could have blocked all my shots. Surprisingly, he did not block my attack at all: instead, he took advantage of the absence of flames in front of him and charged at me with his black sword, created by what looked like his Soul.

I stopped him by unleashing a barrage of fire just before he could reach me: he was forced to summon his shield once again to avoid getting burned to a crisp. I needed a fine strategy, but I also needed to spill some answers from him "What do you truly want from us?" I asked him as the fires were deflected by his protection.

"Nothing, really, apart from some answers...and an insurance. I'm currently working on the latter..." I did not comprehend his answer, unfortunately. Before I could inquire further, I heard Chara ask me something in my head, fearful * **Check his status, right now. You've got to see this...** * I did just as they asked me and...the results almost gave me a heart attack: a preposterous LV 30, an enormous amount of HP and an undetermined level of power...never before had I met such a person before, not even They had ever been so violent.

As I contemplated how could he be so powerful, I heard him beckon me "Hey, are you okay? You look like you're still sleeping." he was standing in the middle of the road, without even his shield drawn. I must have stopped attacking him once I began scouting his psyche, but he did not take advantage of my distraction.

"What are you doing?" I asked "Why are you not attacking me?"

"I'm waiting for you to make the first move." he answered nonchalantly."

* **Interesting...this guy doesn't know who he's fighting against: he's underestimating us, he thinks this is all a game...let's show this idiot who we truly are, brother!** * Chara spurred me.

*Why are you so interested all of a sudden?* I asked Them.

* **I like winning, duh! Seriously, let's get this over with: I can't tell what's wrong with this guy, and that scares me a lot. We need to finish this battle as soon as possible.** * a fine answer for me: if They wanted to show him he had made a mistake by challenging us, I was not going to stop Them.

I summoned more flames that converged on him both from the front and from the sides: he again managed to defend himself by strafing backwards, avoiding the fireballs coming from the sides in the process, and blocking with his shield the ones coming from the front. This man was good, I needed a new strategy.

"I must admit, you are much more resilient than I originally thought." I told him, a bit excited.

"Thanks, you're pretty good too: I thought that, by now, I would've hit you once or twice."

* **Hey, I've got an idea.** * I listened to my sibling intently * **Do you remember that one attack I used against Frisk? The one with the converging rings of fire? I bet he wouldn't be able to dodge that one.** * even though Frisk managed to avoid that pattern nonetheless, I presumed that was only because she was skilled at dodging: he, on the other hand, did not have that grace that characterized her movements. Maybe They were right, I should have proceeded with their plan.

I summoned many rings of dark fire all around the human, engulfing him completely: he had nowhere left to run, and I was sure he was panicking under that calm facade of his "...Cazzo. E adesso?" [...Fuck. What now?]

"Excuse me, what did you just say?" I had not comprehended a word of what he said, the words he pronounced were like nothing I had ever heard before.

"Oh, nothing important. It's just that...I didn't expect this to happen, to be honest." this is it, I thought, I have him "Let's see if this works..."

Without any prior warning, the human disappeared in a small black vortex, leaving only some black dust in his place: he appeared soon after a few feet in front of my attack, but he did not look very good. He was shivering and his left eye had acquired a dark black coloration, while the red one had remained gray. That did not last long, however, as his left eye soon returned gray and he regained his usual composure and attitude.

"W-What did you just do? What sorcery was that?" I inquired, speechless.

"I was...teleporting...but that's not right: he said I could only teleport in very specific places...but that's surely not one of them. Maybe he forgot to inform me about something?"

"Who is this person who you are talking about? Was he the one that taught you how to use that power?" I asked, confused. Just what was going on anymore, I wondered? Nothing that happened in the last minutes made sense: that power...I had never seen a monster use it before, and certainly not a human.

"Hey, can I ask you a favor?" Dante asked me.

I was not expecting him to ask me anything, but I allowed him to continue "Sure, what is it?"

"Could you please use that attack once more?" he smirked "I want to see if I can do that again. Don't worry, I'm not going to attack you as we test this out."

*W-What is the deal with this guy?* I asked myself, wordless.

* **Perhaps...perhaps not even he is fully aware of his powers. He is using this battle both to train himself and to achieve the goals he stated before. Man, I've never been so excited before!** * Chara did sound very enthusiastic * **Come on, let's see what he can do with that "blinking" power of his!** * had They just given that power a custom name? That was something They never did in a long time...that travel sure was making me remember more and more of the Chara I once knew.

* * *

I finally found my brother Papyrus at home, watching another one of Mettaton's shows seated comfortably on our sofa; as soon as he saw me, he greeted me as usual, except his voice was much less loud "Hello, my dear brother!" he looked at me for a second before asking "Why are you looking at me like that?"

I didn't answer immediately and instead ran towards him and hugged him tightly, happy that he was still safe and sound "That flower, I...for a second, I thought you were going to die..." he hugged me back, but it was more to reassure me than because he really believed in what I said.

"Sans, I was not going to die! I...hey, were you spying on me before?" he inquired suspicious.

"Nah, I was busy when that human in black approached me and told me what happened." I had always been pretty good at forging excuses "Papyrus...do me a favor and promise me you'll stay away from that flower for as long as you'll live."

He was still a bit suspicious, but he knew that I really was worried for him "Well, if you're so scared you're not making any puns...then I suppose I can only promise you that." he looked at me in the eyesockets: his right eyesocket was glowing a bright orange "But, if I do encounter him some time soon...I will have a little "conversation" with him regarding what happened a few minutes ago." it disappeared soon afterwards. To this day, I am still not sure what was that light I had seen.

Either way, I got a notification on my phone soon afterwards, which surely wasn't a positive thing: it was a camera feed of a path just outside Snowdin. Once again, I was glad I didn't have a heart, for it would've stopped instantly.

"I have to go, Pap. Take care, bye!" I left the house in the blink of an eye and ran to the basement before he could object.

* * *

* **Well, I never expected this "Dante" to be this good: he has either dodged or blocked all our attacks so far, but on the other hand we've kept him away from melee range as well...either we change our strategy now, or this battle's never going to end.** * well, I believe They explained it all: unless something occurred in that moment, that battle was destined to be endless.

I had never seen Chara fight with me like that before: They were not fighting for their ideals, their truths...no, They were fighting just for sport, to have fun. I had never seen Them act like that, and I was not sure whether to be happy for Them or preoccupied.

"Can we all just stop for a second?" Frisk ran between me and Dante, thankfully in a moment where we were not busy attacking each other "Look, if you have something you want to tell me, why don't you just talk with me already and end this useless fight?"

"Well, I _also_ want to talk with you..." he tried to explain himself "...But yeah, if you want we can have a little truce and talk for a while." he looked at me, still calm as ever "So, do you..."

"Yes, I approve of this truce. After all, it was you who desired for this battle to commence."

He approached the girl, and I did so as well: I wanted to make sure this man did not pull any shady maneuver while he spoke to the girl. He crouched to get to her height and explained himself "So, I work at a bank, a big one. A nice job, even though I personally hate it. Anyway, my superiors come to me two days ago and order me to retrieve a large sum of money a lone, childless woman living in the outskirts of nowhere had loaned ten years ago..." Frisk's expression shifted, she was not sure of what to say anymore, and neither was I "...So, I get to the house where this woman lives...and find her at her deathbed. She doesn't tell me where the money is, or if she even has the money, but she tells me that her "daughter" has all the answers I need..." he had to stop once he noticed that Frisk was not listening anymore: she was covering her face with her hands, tears streaming down her face "No...no...no..." she kept repeating to herself.

If Dante got such a reaction from her...then maybe...was he saying the truth? Was Frisk's mother...

I tried to comfort her, hug her, but she refused and shoved me away "Stay away from me!" she screamed at me, and I could only do what she asked me to. She turned to the other human and yelled at him "You're a liar! You can't have talked with anyone! She was already...and you..." she tried to run away but she almost immediately tripped and fell in the cold snow. She did not get up, and neither did she try to do so.

"Frisk!" I wanted to reach her, to help her, but Dante grabbed me by the robe and suggested me "Don't do it. You'll only worsen the situation, I fear. Let her cry: I think she deserves it."

"But...I cannot just leave her there!" I tried to object.

"Yes, you can and you are going to. In the meantime..." he summoned his black sword "Why don't we finish what we've started?"

I looked at Frisk: she was still crying, and did not look like she was going to stop any time soon. I may as well finish this duel as she was still in that condition, I thought.

I conjured many small flames, which assimilated and created a large, gloomy dark scythe made of fire "Let us end this once and for all."

In response, he "blinked" a dozen feet away and prepared his weapon "Fine by me! Get set to get rekt!"

We ran towards each other, weapons in hand. As soon as we got in melee range, we attacked each other with our weapons; the sound of magic cutting the frosty air echoed throughout all the cavern. My scythe was mere inches away from his face, and so was his sword. I will give it to him: he stayed true to his word and did not hurt me nor Frisk.

* **That's a shame, I wanted this to end more bloodily!** * Chara shouted in my head * **Oh, whatever: I'm satisfied with the end result.** *

"I believe this is a draw." I pointed out.

"Yep, it sure is. Good fight." his weapon turned into a black Soul once more and disappeared into his body, then I did the same and de-summoned my scythe. I still could not understand how he could possibly possess such...unique abilities, such as the capability of turning his own Soul into a weapon or teleporting to short distances. I figured out rather soon it was due to his Soul's uncommon color...but, just as I could not fully comprehend Frisk's powers, the man's were too otherworldly for me to decipher on the spot.

"Well then, now that we are done with this charade...would you mind explaining to me your true motives to this fight?" I asked politely a question that should have been asked in a completely different way.

"Of course." he stared at me for a few seconds before asking me "Can I trust you? Sure, the girl does...but can I really ensure the safety of a little girl to you?" he pointed his index finger to my chest "...To Them?"

"W-Why would you even care? You said it yourself: you never even met Frisk before!" he did not answer this question: he was still waiting for me to say yes.

"...Fine, you can trust me. I promised to Frisk I would never hurt her, so I guess I can promise the same to you." I sighed.

"Good. Now I can tell you the rest of the story." he took some time to recall what he needed to and continued from where he had left "So, I entered the house and found a woman at her deathbed. As I told you before, she didn't answer any of my questions and instead begged me to go fetch her daughter, who had run off to Mount Ebott...and who, apparently, had all the answers I needed. Now, I would've gladly told her to go fuck herself...if there weren't a child in the middle. So I accepted her request, and now I'm here because I didn't pay enough attention yesterday night..."

"So, is Frisk's mother..." I did not want to finish that question, solely thinking about it was already bringing me unbearable pain.

"Dead, as of yesterday. I called an ambulance, but her heart had already stopped beating. Poor kid..." he looked at Frisk, and so did I: she had stopped crying and was now almost sleeping, only rarely sobbing or crying. "It is worse to know love and to lose it than to never prove it at all." Dante commented.

* **Wow, he actually gets it! I like this guy already!** *

*Anyway, what should we do now?* I asked my sibling *We wanted to deliver Frisk to her parents on the Surface...but now that we know she does not have any, would it not be pure nonsense for her to return to the Surface? Would it not be better if she stayed down here, with us?*

* **Asriel, you're so annoying: no, we can't! She belongs to the human world, you need to shove this into your brain! Whether she has any relatives is irrelevant!** *

I knew They would not have let me keep her with us, so I decided to keep chatting with Dante instead "Anyway, what are you going to do now?" I asked him, curious "Are you going to wake Frisk up, get the information you need...and then leave? Do you know of a way to exit the Underground for humans?" I asked, but I really did not want to know.

"Well, I don't know how to leave...but that's okay, I guess. My friend, however...he told me that something would happen if you brought Frisk to the barrier."

* **See? If you don't want to listen to me, listen to this guy at least!** * They yelled at me.

"Oh, and I don't want that info right away." he informed me "Right now, I've got...more urgent business." he said that in a weird, shady tone.

"What do you mean?" I asked him.

He whispered in my ear, as to make sure nobody else could hear us "There is a guy, a plant to be more precise...that wants both you and Frisk dead. He goes by the name "Flowey" apparently, and he looks like a golden flower with eyes and a mouth...I suggest you engage him on sight: he is a sick, manipulative bastard who apparently holds a grudge against the girl and wants to absorb her Soul. I've spent the previous hour tracking him down as I kept an eye on you, and found out he was the one who convinced Papyrus to attack you."

"Wait, hold on...this is a bit too much information to take in all at once..." a plant...that wanted me and Frisk dead? How come I never met them in person? I asked that to the man who replied "As I said, he is manipulative: he used Papyrus as a pawn and I'm sure he's going to pull some other sick prank some time soon."

"What should I do?" I asked him, preoccupied: if what he just told me was proven to be true, then...my voyage would have become much more troublesome than I had originally expected.

"You? Nothing: I'm going to get rid of him, alone. I only ask you to get the girl to the barrier, then...I don't know, something will happen, I guess."

* **This is getting more and more interesting by the minute...it's a shame there are no popcorns inside your Soul: I would've probably ended them all by now if there were.** *

*This really is not the time for jokes, Chara.* I yelled at them, quieting them.

"Can I trust you?" I asked the human.

"Absolutely." he answered calmly "Do as I asked, and I will make sure that this idiotic weed won't pester you anymore." he pulled a small device out of his pocket and exclaimed "Geez, look at the time. I need to go, bye!" he disappeared in a small cloud of black dust, just as he did before.

I had all sorts of questions and pieces of information floating in my head, but the one that I kept thinking about was the death of Frisk's mother. She had passed through such a horrifying trauma...she did not deserve to see her own mother pass away, she really did not.

However, it was not the time to ponder about that: we had a journey to make. I approached Frisk, grabbed her and lifted her in my arms, saying "Come on Frisk, it's time to go."

* * *

"You did what?" I asked angrily at the human.

"I did what needed to be done." he answered seriously "That guy needed to be informed of the plant, of what I'm doing: he needs to know there's a fucking flowery psycho that wants him and the girl dead!"

"You're tampering with the timeline!" I yelled at him "It may not mean nothing to you, but you have to understand that now nothing is certain! Because of you, all certainty that I had left is gone!" I had spent the last years solely preparing to that day, to prepare for that tremendous day...and I was losing control of everything very quickly.

"Fuck you and those stupid timelines!" he answered me, angry like I had never heard him before "If they were real, I wouldn't be here, the prince wouldn't be here, and everything would've played out much differently! I read all those files you sent me, and they're stupid as shit!"

"They may have proven wrong so far..." I tried to make my position stand out "But that's what I've worked with for the past years! I am a-hundred-percent sure that they are correct, there's just..."

"A-hundred-percent correct, huh? Senti, vaffanculo." [Listen, go fuck yourself.] I didn't understand those last words, but I wasn't sure I wanted to know their true meaning anyway "Look, I'll keep acting as your spy and all...but you need to get out of wherever you are and look at the world for yourself, because it's much different than you might think!" he cut the conversation short by hanging his phone.

I wasn't sure if to call him back and keep yelling at him or to take his advice and reconsider my options. In the end, I kept staring at the emptiness of my screens for what looked like an eternity.


	15. Waterfall (Part 1)

_Sometimes, my parents brought me and my sibling to Waterfall to have fun: it only lasted one day, but we all had fun nonetheless. I loved to swim in Waterfall's ponds since the coldness of the water did not affect me; however, Chara was not as..resistant to the cold as I was, which made them dislike swimming very much._

 _That day, however, I noticed that They were not even complaining as usual: They were tucked in a corner of the pool, as quiet as the water. They did not look fine at all, so I decided to investigate "Chara, are you alright?" I asked as I approached them slowly but steadily._

" _ **Yes, I'm alright.** " They answered inexpressive " **Now get back to your swimming, I don't want to talk right now.** " that made me even more worried for them.  
"Is...is everything really alright?" I inquired "You seem...even sadder than usual. Did something I did or said unsettle you?"_

" _ **No!** " They yelled at me, angry "J **ust...leave me alone, okay? I don't want to talk to you right now!** " the hatred in their words slashed through me like a venom-infused blade. Something was wrong with Them, and I had to find out what exactly before it worsened._

" _Chara, you know you can tell me everything, right? We are siblings, we are supposed to know each other like our very selves..." I got as close as possible to Them without having actual physical contact, as I knew that would have made Them even more angry._

" _ **Shut up! You don't know anything about me!** " suddenly, without warning, They jumped at me and forced me underwater, keeping my head under the surface of the pond. I did not breath before getting submerged and some water was already entering my lungs: I could not believe my own sibling was...drowning me...that made everything even worse._

 _I soon lost the capacity to fight back as my lungs were filled with water, making me lose all hope I could have ever survived. I thought I was going to die...but, thankfully, that was not the case: They grabbed my body and pulled it on the nearby ground, which stopped the water from entering my mouth, then They made me vomit all the water inside me the hard way, by brute force. It was not fun in the slightest, to be honest._

" _ **Are you alright?** " They asked me preoccupied as They assured themselves of my safety._

" _I...think so..." even though I felt very weak, I somehow managed to reassure Them._

" _ **You scared me to death!** " They slapped me in the face angrily._

" _Hey, you are the one who almost killed me!" I yelled at Them, which made them at least a bit sorry " **I'm sorry, I...I didn't mean to...you're the only one who I can trust and...** " They so desperately wanted to cry, but They tried to keep their cool: They were the one who said that crying was useless, after all._

" _ **I shouldn't lash out like that at you.** " They told me, still sorry " **You're my brother...the only one I would ever die for...I shouldn't be acting like this in front of you.** " They got off me and offered to pull me back up, an offer which I gladly accepted._

" _ **However, if you tell Mom and Dad about this, I will kill you for real.** " They smiled at me, but I knew They were serious. Telling my parents about it would have been a mistake I could have done only once._

* * *

I soon reached the cavern I spotted a minute or so before, Frisk still laying and crying in my arms. I had done all I could to calm her down, but I feared I had done next to nothing to help her. Either way, She needed to wake up immediately: we had reached our destination, after all "Come on Frisk, wake up!"

She opened her eyes as if she had suddenly been awoken from a bad dream "Asriel...what happened?" she spaced out for an instant before asking me "Did he go away?"

I was unsure of what was wrong with the human I was holding in my arms, but I answered her question nonetheless "Yes Frisk, he is gone. Are you okay?" again, it took a while for her to answer affirmatively.

"Good." I said "We reached our destination: you may now return to walking." I let her fall on the cold snowy ground, which made the both of us laugh. It was good to see she had regained her positive attitude so quickly.

She was the first to enter the cave: I asked if she wanted me to hold her hand just like before, but she politely refused. Apparently, she did not feel as pressured in that place, due to "walls and the ceiling being closer to her"...I did not fully comprehend her explanation, but I tried to make some sense out of it nonetheless.

The area, from the grass to the walls, was of a deep blue; the walls and the ceiling were rocky and dripped some water, even if only a drop every now and then: the atmosphere was certainly a lot different than before. We immediately spotted the yellow lizard-like monster Papyrus had been talking with some time before laying against a sentry post that looked exactly the same as the ones we had seen all over Snowland: this one's roof, surprisingly enough, was covered in snow, which made me even more perplexed.

As soon as the monster saw us, his face lit up considerably: he waited for us to approach him and greeted us "Yo! Are you the guys Papyrus was talking with some time ago?" at least he still remembered the name of his friend...the skeleton had not lied, he really did befriend that monster.

"Yep, we are!" Frisk replied cheerful "I'm Frisk, and this is Asriel." I nodded at the small creature "And you are?" she asked the monster his name.

"My name is...well, everyone calls me MK. You can do that too!" I believe she asked for his name, not his nickname...but that was more than enough for the human "Cool! Since you're friends with Papyrus, do you want to be friends with us too?"

"Yeah, sure!" to be honest, I never asked to be friends with that kid...but saying it out loud would have caused severe consequences "You know, I'm here because I want to meet Undyne, the captain of the Royal Guard: I heard she usually patrols this area at this time of the day. Do you guys want to come?"

"I don't know..." the human turned towards me "Do we have time?"

That conversation was going too fast, I had to halt it for a second "Actually, I do not think we have the time nor the need to find the...captain of the Royal Guard, you said?" the monster nodded. I was a little bit scared of the possibility of encountering the captain of the Royal Guard: they were, if I remembered correctly, my parents' right hand man and I was sure that, if we ever met, they would have recognized me immediately.

"Man, that's a bum." the monster sighed "Anyway, what are you two here?" he asked me.

"We are trying to get to New Home." I explained "That is why we need to go through Waterfall first."

"Hey, Asriel!" Frisk beckoned me "If we're going to go through the entirety of this area, there might be a chance we encounter whoever MK's looking for!" a possibility I was not particularly excited about, to be honest "Do you mind if we tag along with him for the time being?"

* **Absolutely not!** * Chara yelled in my mind * **Dealing with this idiot is already stressful enough, I don't want to babysit another simpleton as well! Besides, we don't have any reason to help him at all!** * what They said was, at least partially, correct. For once, I decided to side with them.

Fortunately, the monster answered before I could "Nah, don't worry: I can look for her on my own, you don't have to come with me. Besides, I might slow you down...or you could slow down me!" he winked at the human before dismissing himself "Man it's late! I should've started looking for her a long time ago! Bye!" he ran forward, but he tripped mid way and fell face-first into the ground. He did not seem hurt, however, as he somehow managed to get up without using his hands and proceeded down the hallway as if nothing had ever happened. He then disappeared from our sights.

"Should we follow him?" Frisk asked, unsure.

"We should not follow him." I replied "But there are no other paths, so we do not have a choice in the matter."

We proceeded down the same path the monster from before had ran through, but we were soon interrupted by, ironically, a waterfall: a nearby cascade was flooding the path in front of us, finishing it's course in an abyss right next to the road. Moreover, some huge boulders were falling from the cascade and down the flooded path, making the crossing even more dangerous.

I evaluated all the possible risks of traversing the road, which were a lot to be honest, but eventually concluded that there was no other way to proceed and we therefore needed to cross that perilous road nonetheless.

Before I could warn Frisk of my decision, she asked for my attention "Hey Asriel, what's that over there?" she pointed at a big azure echo flower a few feet away from us "That is an echo flower, Frisk." I explained "They are peculiar flowers that repeat any and all things people say near them."

A voice echoed in the hallway behind us, seemingly angry and annoyed "You stole my job!"

"...What was that?" Frisk asked me.

"How should I know?" I replied "Anyway, do you want to try it out yourself?"  
The girl nodded and I brought her next to the flower, which repeated the last words it had heard "I like trains." upon hearing those words, spoken by the same human I had fought with just a few minutes before, I raised my head and tried to cover the stupidest expression I had ever made in my life. I was done with that place already.

We moved away from the echo flower as to not rewrite the message the human from before had left history and asked the little girl "What even are trains?"

"It's...difficult to explain." she answered as she tried to stop herself from chuckling uncontrollably "Whoever said that phrase...didn't say it because they actually liked them though." I did not understand what she was implying, but it was clear there was some sort of hidden joke behind the phrase. Either way, she explained me that trains were a transport on the Surface, but that she had never seen any of them firsthand.

I decided that a further investigation was not required in the slightest and to instead proceed down the flooded path: I soon found out that the floor was not as flooded as I thought it was and that we could very well walk through it without the water slowing us down. We proceeded down the road, avoiding the incoming giant boulders, and eventually made it to the other side, much to my relief.

Now, if I have to be honest, I did not know where to go next in the slightest: the last time I had visited Waterfall, well...I was a child. Even then, I did not visit the entirety of the area, so I felt like I was going at random. I was thankful that, in that moment, I only had one path ahead of me, that I could not be mistaken.

However, the path in front of us was interrupted by a patch of very tall grass: it was even taller than me, and so thick the both of us could have sank in it. However, as I stated before, there was no other clear way to proceed, so we had to traverse it.

As we were walking through the tall grass, I heard a voice above us: a powerful, virile voice, which, pardon me for my paranoia, could have potentially belonged to the captain of the Royal Guard. I asked Frisk to stop walking, to keep quiet and to hide in the grass, as I did not want her to reveal us both. The voice was coming from a ledge some feet above us: it seemed as though however was talking was having a conversation with someone else, but I could not hear their voice "What do you mean they're dangerous? How dangerous?" I heard a voice, but I could not make out the words: however they were, they were as quiet as we were "Are you sure about that? Do you have proof of what you're saying?" they let them answer, and they only took a short while to do so "I suppose I have to do something about them then. Thanks for alerting me, you may go."

I assumed whoever this guy was talking to had gone away, as the figure right above us had stopped talking; that's when I heard a sneeze coming from right in front of me, which attracted their attention. It could not have been Frisk, as she was standing right behind me.

I grabbed Frisk and forced her into complete hiding in the patch of grass, basically by pulling her as close to the ground as possible; I, however, kept looking upwards, trying to deduce if the figure had heard that noise.

They did indeed hear that, as a bright yellow light appeared over the ledge, scouting the patch of grass for something...I soon saw a blue spear-shaped magical bullet appear right next to said light, aiming at somewhere in the grass...but it soon disappeared, and so did the yellow light. Everything returned as quiet as it previously was.

I told Frisk it was safe now and that we could stop hiding: we continued to walk forward in that hiding spot until we eventually exited on the other side. The hallway on the other side was just like the one we came from and it seemed as though we could continue forward, a huge relief for me.

That's when I saw that yellow monster kid from before staring at the ledge in admiration, right outside the patch of grass "That was AWESOME! Did you see that?" he looked ecstatic.

"Why are you so excited? That monster was pointing a spear at you!" I tried to explain the kid the danger he had just gone through.

"What do you mean? She wasn't pointing her spear at me: she only uses it to defeat bad guys!" if the monster claimed that the blue spear belonged to a woman, he had to know who we had just met...which was not promising in the least "Was that figure we just saw...perhaps..."

"Yep, that's Undyne! The captain of the Royal Guard!" of course we had to meet her. How could I even think there could have been a chance of not even meeting her? That was too surrealistic to be possible.

"You know, it kinda scared me how she pointed that spear of hers all over the grass." Frisk pointed out, confused "It was almost as if...she was looking for something."

"Yo! For real? She must be looking for bad guys then!" bad guys? As in...criminals, I wondered? That could not have been good, what if she mistook us for actual evildoers? It would have made things even worse, and we were already in a really bad situation.

"Oh man, I have to follow her! See you later!" the monster ran away, tripped, got up and kept running as if nothing happened, just like he did before. I wondered if we had just witnessed a deja-vù.

Not like it really mattered, there were bigger issues at hand "Do you really think she might be hunting someone? Undyne, I mean." Frisk asked me, a bit scared.

"I believe so: she was indeed looking for someone before, which might have been criminals. It is the Royal Guard's job to arrest evildoers after all." but that could only mean that, somewhere in Waterfall, there were bandits running amok, which was not good at all.

"Do you think she might be hunting...us?" Frisk unexpectedly asked me.

"Why would you think so?" I asked her, confused "She does not even know we are here, what reason could she possibly have to be searching for us?"

"I don't know, it's just that...I've got a bad feeling about all this." she looked as if she were trying to remember something important "I feel like...something bad could happen to us at any time."

* **To be honest, I too fear that Undyne might be looking for us.** * Chara surprisingly told me * **I can't stop thinking about what that human told us, about there being a "flower" who's been messing with Papyrus, manipulating him into attacking us...I wonder if he's already done something to the captain of the Royal Guard as well...** * their theory was perfectly plausible... too plausible, in fact. I did not want to believe that what They just suggested could have been right, it would have been disastrous if it were...I decided not to tell Frisk about it and to, instead, continue our already troublesome voyage through Waterfall...

* * *

"Who do you think she was talking to?" the kid asked me "Whoever they were, they were having quite the conversation with...Undyne, right?"

"I don't know. According to my notes, she was supposed to be talking with Papyrus...but Paps' at home right now, probably reading one of his books. At least we can erase one name from the list." I replied, calmer than I should've been.

"Do you think she was talking with the flowery bitch?" he asked me, as calm as ever "It would explain why she acted so...rashly. Maybe she got deceived just like Papyrus."

"Are you a-hundred percent sure?" I asked him, jokingly "I mean, the flower might not be responsible for everything bad that happens to Frisk and Asriel..." I perfectly knew that there was no other explanation for her sudden change in behavior, but I wanted to mess around with Dante a little bit "...Maybe Undyne simply had a bad day?"

"We both know that can't be the case." I wasn't sure if he was playing along or not "Not even I am such a douche when I have a bad day."

"Oh really? What do you do when you have a bad day then?" I was the best at making small talk, I enjoyed wasting others' time...even though it really wasn't the right moment to do so.

"I usually punch anyone that annoys me." I was actually glad I wasn't next to him, then "But seriously, if she really wasn't deceived by the flower, what reason could she have to hunt those two idiots down?"

"I don't know." I answered, honest "If this were playing out the way it should be, she would be hunting down Frisk to harvest her Soul, which would be required to break the barrier...but, right now, she doesn't need to kill anyone." I wondered if maybe she was, as MK had suggested before, really hunting for some random evildoer...I told my suspicion to Dante, who didn't accept it "Whoever talked with Undyne was too shady to actually be a good guy. I'm calling it right now, she was talking with the flowery bitch."

"Either way, we're losing them." I informed the human that we had wasted enough time slacking off "Keep looking for Undyne and the flower, maybe we can inform her of the mistake she's making before she actually...well, attacks our targets."

He nodded and proceeded to follow the girl and the prince; as he quietly made his way through the secret passages of Waterfall, the human asked me "Since we don't have anything else to do, why don't you tell me something more about those "timelines" of yours?"

"What, have you started having faith in me?" I asked mockingly "I must have drank too much ketchup..."

"Very funny. Look, what you said would've happened in Snowland actually happened...sort of. You said Papyrus would've attacked the girl, which he did. And a lot of situations you said the girl would've gone through, well...turned out to be real. So maybe you're not entirely wrong...and I would like some insights on what will happen here in Waterfall."

"Okay, but I don't want you to interfere with any of the events that I'm going to tell you about." I grabbed the papers I kept all my notes on and prepared myself for what I was going to do "I'm risking a lot by telling him this...but I don't have a choice." I told myself quietly.


	16. Waterfall (Part 2)

" _Dad, what is this room?" I asked my father, curious._

 _Soon after the...incident that happened between me and Chara, our parents brought us to a specific room in Waterfall, still oblivious of what happened mere minutes before they arrived. The room we were in was particularly bright, as thousands of small light crystals hung from the ceiling of the cavern, illuminating the area in a spectacular way._

" _This is the Wishing Room, my sons: monsters of all ages come here every day to entrust their hopes and dreams to the stars, believing that one day they will all come true." my father explained._

" _ **Those lights aren't stars.** " Chara found a way to ruin the mood once again " **And even if they were, it wouldn't matter anyway.** "_

" _What do you mean, my child?" mother approached my sibling, unsettled by their words "Of course they aren't stars, but...the feeling is the same. Whether they're real or not, it's-"_

" _ **It's useless. Dreams are just...dreams. Believing in them only makes you sadder when you realize they'll never come true. Heh, I almost pity all the monsters who were foolish enough to entrust their hopes to these pathetic replicas...** " they did not use small words, which made their explanation a lot more crueler: They even managed to make me cry out of discomfort "Chara...please stop..."_

" _ **Stop doing what? I'm telling you the truth so that you won't commit my same mistakes!** " They turned towards both me and my parents as They began to cry as well, but more quietly " **You won't ever be able to reach the Surface...never...and maybe it's best this way.** "_

" _That is enough!" father tried to regain all the composure he had temporarily lost: he looked intimidating, even to me who had never been afraid of him before "We will discuss this matter further at home; until then, you are not allowed to continue your argument: you just stomped on the hopes and dreams of an entire race and you will be punished for that."_

" _Asgore, you cannot say that! Sure, Chara wasn't very nice...but there must be a reason for their odd behavior!" mother tried to defend my sibling, as always._

" _Tori, there is a limit to everything and he disregarded it." my father replied angered "I am eager to hear his explanation but, until then, I will not allow him to trample over our hopes and dreams as if they were nothing." even though I felt sorry for my sibling, I believed my father's decision to be somewhat correct: my entire kind spent an incredible amount of time blocked under a cave and Chara...tried to deny what everyone fought and had fought for every day._

" _ **It's fine.** " Chara whispered me in my ear " **They won't ever understand. They want to believe in dreams because they can't accept the truth: if they want to reach the Surface, sacrifices must be made. On both sides.** " I did not understand the meaning of their words, but I was not quite sure I wanted to understand it either._

 _My life and my thoughts were split: who should I believe, I wondered, my parents...or my sibling?_

"What is this place, Asriel?" Frisk asked me, just as curious as I was that one time.

* * *

After making our way through dozens of rooms filled with puzzles involving Bridge Flowers, a special plant similar in shape to your lotuses but that only blossoms if specific conditions are met and that is capable of tolerating both my and Frisk's weight combined, we reached a special cavern within Waterfall...the Wishing Room. Time had not changed the room in the slightest, as it was still as beautiful and breathtaking as that one time I visited it together with Chara.

"This is the Wishing Room, my dear human: monsters of all ages come here every day to entrust their wishes to the stars...sort of. There are no stars in the Underground, so they entrust their wishes to these tiny light crystals instead." I gave her the simplest and fullest explanation I could.

"Wow..." the amazing spectacle of the lights illuminating us from the dark ceiling above us made her almost speechless "This is...beautiful..."

A human like her had to have seen plenty of stars, of that I was sure...why was she so interested in those little shards then? Had she ever even seen stars before? I asked that to Frisk, who answered "Sometimes, me and mom watched the sky from inside our house at night: the view of all those tiny lights shining in the distance...never bored me. We tried to go outside a couple of times...you know, to watch them from even closer...but I couldn't resist and we always returned inside before I could really see anything." she moved closer to an echo flower...that was dangerously near to the spot me, Chara and our parents had our little "discussion" many, many years prior: I raced to the flower to prevent the kid from listening, but thankfully the registration had previously been overwritten "Some day, I wish I could see the real stars..." a kid, or so it seemed. Another wish that would have never become true...thanks to me.

The human listened that registration and asked me "Asriel...since when have you monsters been trapped below Mount Ebott?" she sounded almost depressed, as if she already knew the answer.

It took a while for me to answer "The precise date has been forgotten...but it has been at least a few centuries, of that I am sure..." so many monsters had died in those centuries, trapped under a mountain with no escape: so many of them lived and died before ever being able to see the Sun.

I expected her to say something, but she didn't: she became completely silent, too depressed to say anything. Perhaps I could have awakened her, saved her from that spiral of sadness...but I was too sad myself to help her, and I feared I would have only worsened her condition.

Some rooms later, we finally entered a somewhat different environment: the floor we were walking on was not made out of bedrock like the previous rooms, but of wood. In fact, I was pretty sure we were walking on a long bridge suspended above what looked like simple water. I could feel the bridge below me go up and down at regular intervals, which slightly upset me for some reason.

Frisk, in the meantime, was exploring the room we were in and soon discovered some signs on a nearby wall...that I do not think were meant to be read by kids like her "The war...between humans...and monsters..." somehow, she managed to translate those ancient words even though they definitely were not written in English "Asriel, was there really a war between humans and monsters?" her expression was full of both curiosity and fear, which made me question whether telling her the truth was a good idea or not.

* **Come on, she's not as young as you believe: tell her that story, I want to see how she reacts to it...** * their words definitely did not help me feel better...but they spurred me to tell the human what she wanted to know "Yes, a long time ago...our races fought a gruesome and merciless war. It's thanks to that war that we are all trapped under this mountain..."

"Could you please tell me a bit more about it?" I thought Frisk would have been scared of my tale from the beginning, but it seemed as though my introduction made her even more determined to hear the rest. More determined and more frightened, to be completely honest.

Since she seemed so eager to hear me talk about the history of my people, I prepared myself to narrate her the tale of our demise "Once upon a time, both humans and monsters ruled the Surface. Our nations were very different, but they both hated each other for different reasons. Monsters hated humans for their complete disrespect of their own people...while humans hated monsters for a very precise reason: we possessed a power that they did not, a power that all monsters have. A power that could have ended their civilization in the glimpse of an eye..."

"What kind of power?" she made me realize I was taking a bit too much time to explain myself.

"We monsters can absorb the Souls of deceased humans, incorporating them into our spirit. Monsters are far weaker than humans, both in body and in spirit: typically, our Souls are much more fragile than yours and disappear immediately after death...but human Souls are not like that at all. It is possible for a monster to absorb a human Soul and..."

"And?" Frisk asked me to continue, curious as to why I stopped myself right there.

"And...and become like me." I managed to mutter.

"W-What?" Frisk could not or did not want to believe she heard me correctly.

"Normal monsters are bound by their emotions: their magic itself is empowered or weakened by their state of mind and influenced by that of their opponent. In the end, even though our magic was feared by the humans, we were far weaker than them. But...a monster with a human Soul...can overcome these limitations and become an authentic force of mass destruction. That is what humans have feared all this time: a monster who could not only defend himself, but be powerful enough to counter-attack." I sighed in sadness "A monster just like me..."

"W-Wait, you absorbed a human Soul?" Frisk asked me as she made a few steps backwards "...Whose?" she inquired even though it would not have made a difference. Unless I told her what the person whose Soul I absorbed was to me.

* **If you want, you can tell her about me.** * Chara chuckled grimly in my mind * **I am curious...what will she think of you once you tell her the truth? What will she think of you once she knows you inherited the spirit of your own sibling?** *

"Look, it's...complicated. I do not want to talk about it." I decided to end the conversation there because...I feared I could have scared her. Perhaps that was why Chara insisted so much to make me reveal that information.

Frisk nodded and told me she understood, but I could not help myself but wonder what she really thought of me, if she still considered me her friend knowing that...well, she already knew something was wrong with me even before entering Waterfall, so perhaps it was not as bad as I thought.

As we were conversing, we walked further down the bridge until we entered a long dark corridor that greatly obstructed our visibility: just as I finally found a way to proceed, I heard a weird noise and what looked like a blue projectile missed me by bare inches "What the-"

* **Think fast!** * Chara yelled at me as more projectiles were shot at us from a ledge some feet away from the bridge: even though I struggled a little bit to avoid getting hit, Frisk did not have any problem, as usual. When I turned my gaze towards where those...spears, apparently, were coming from, I saw a dark, armored figure hiding in the dark, a single yellow light giving away it's presence: Undyne, the captain of the Royal Guard. I knew it, she really was after us...we needed to get out of that room as soon as we could.

She summoned some more spears and launched them towards us, hoping to finish us off quickly and painfully: at first I thought fighting her right now and solving things immediately would have no doubt benefited the safety of our travel...but I soon remembered that fighting an enemy hiding in the dark would have proven quite difficult. I decided to retreat temporarily and devise a counter-strategy...at least, that was the plan: as soon as I saw Frisk making her way towards the other side of the room I understood the only way I was getting out of there was the hard way.

We sprinted all the way across the room, dodging Undyne's spears the best we could: I was having some trouble avoiding them however and eventually decided to shoot some of those weapons with my fireballs whenever I felt I could do so without losing momentum. We reached the exit in less than a minute and we immediately looked for a good hiding spot: thankfully, another one of those patches of tall grass was right in front of us. We hid in the grass and flattened against the wall just like before, waiting for the Royal Guard to go away and leave us alone.

I heard some heavy steps coming in our direction, which made me rise my guard: if Undyne were to discover us, I would have been ready to battle her on the spot. The noise stopped for a few seconds before commencing once again, but this time slowly fading away: she had gone away. For now, at least.

We exited the hiding spot soon after, surprised we had not been discovered. Between the two, I was definitely the most proven out of the experience "That...was..." I was about to use the word "terrifying" but a voice from inside the bushes finished the phrase for me "AWESOME!"

The kid from before emerged from the bushes excited, half-acknowledging our presence "Yo, and here I thought I had seen her up close! I have never been so close to Undyne in my entire life! Man, I can't wait to see her beat up some bad guys!" he left just like before, tripping as usual mid-way, without even greeting us or waving us goodbye. I wanted to warn the kid that he was getting himself into trouble, but he left my cone of vision just before I could finish the sentence. I was not sure he even listened to me, to be honest.

"Why in the world is that madman...or rather, madwoman hunting us?" even though I did not want an answer and mostly asked the human that question to break the silence, the human took me seriously "Perhaps she wants your autograph: that would make her one of the craziest groupies the world has ever seen." I understood enough of that phrase to know she was joking.

* **If you're going to give that crazed guard your autograph, make sure she pays for it!** * Chara took the opportunity to make fun of me as well. I preferred to ignore them and move on.

We entered the room the little kid had entered before us: a small corridor, with...a table and...a seemingly yellow thing covered by pink crystals...and a mousehole...oh God.

"Knowing that that one day the mouse might extract the cheese from the mystical crystal...it fills me with determination." the human told herself mysteriously.

"Again? Are you seriously going to say something like that every time we encounter one of these things?" just then I realized she used the word "cheese" to describe what was inside the crystal: apparently, that yellow thing full of holes was...cheese. I am not going to lie: it did look somewhat tasty.

"Isn't it a bit strange that we keep finding these things everywhere we go?" Frisk asked me, perplexed "They make me feel weird...I don't know why, but they do." seriously, why was I being so salty about the whole thing? She did not hurt me with her craziness, after all...at least outside of battle.

"Oh, hello my dear customers! Why are you here, if I may ask?"

"Why in the world are _you_ here?"

We found that weird blue bunny monster that sold ice creams a few rooms away, still vending his products with that huge genuine smile on his face "Apparently, the ice cream business in Snowland is rather...poor."

* **Who would've ever thought?** * both me and my sibling silently commented.

"Anyway, do you want some nice creams?" the rabbit inquired, hoping to steal some more money from us. Frisk did seem somewhat hungry, even though we had eaten only an hour prior, so I decided to spend some more money and make both of them happy "Well, at least we are not surrounded by ice this time...two nice creams, please."

The vendor thanked me for my purchase and immediately gave us two cold ice creams, which we ate rather hastily. We were still hiding from that spear-throwing psychopath, after all.

"You know, even though my relocation to Waterfall somewhat paid off..." the bunny conversed with us as we were eating our snack "...I still think I could do a bit better, you know. Do you have any ideas on how to...you know..." stop being an idiot and gain some money? I had a few ideas, in fact "Go sell your nice creams in Hotland: I bet monsters over there would appreciate a break from the constant heat."

"That's it!" the monster stood up, a determined look on his face "I've been doing it wrong all along! I should've been working in Hotland since the beginning!" he turned towards us, grateful "Thank you! Thanks to you, I will finally be able to sell my amazing nice creams to everyone in the Underground!" a little unlikely considering he was a lone man, but I appreciated the dedication.

He left immediately after, bringing his cart with him of course. He was definitely the second fastest person I knew, coming right after Papyrus.

Seriously, how was everyone so fast?

* * *

"A garbage dump, he said...if you want something, you'll find it there, he said..." I never thought I would've ever searched something in a junkyard...and here I thought my life couldn't have gotten any shittier...

I was looking for a ranged weapon, something to hit the flower from far away with: my chances of finding an AWP or an AK-47 in that pile of junk was basically null, so I looked for simple things like slings or boomerangs instead. However, my luck was just as bad as ever: thirty minutes wasted searching shit in a pile of shit.

"Oh, fuck it! I'm done here!" I was almost about to leave when I saw something interesting shining in the water right below me: a small pistol, apparently. It looked like a revolver, but I wasn't an expert on guns at the time so I couldn't really tell. I reached out for the weapon and held it in my hand: it looked as good as new, apart from a few scratches here and there.

"Precisely what I was looking for..." I grinned as I looked inside the magazine for bullets to shoot: no such luck, the magazine was empty. I had a gun, but nothing to fire. Go figure.

"This is so stupid!" I was about to throw the gun when I felt a painful burn inside my chest: the burn quickly passed on to the hand which held the gun, which began glowing a black light. The gun was engulfed by that black energy, which turned it black and applied a small watermark-like red heart on it's barrel.

"The heck?" something had changed within that weapon, of that I was sure: I tried to open the magazine once again, but I was unable to. Even though the situation might have looked weird to some of you...I knew perfectly what to do. I pointed the weapon at a nearby pile of stuff and shot: a black bullets penetrated the junk as if it were cardboard and exited my line of sight. I shot again, and again, and again...I knew a revolver could only hold a maximum of six bullets in it's magazine, but I had fired that gun so many times it was impossible I was dealing with a normal gun anymore.

I had perfected it, or so it seemed.

"What the fuck's happening to me...what am I turning into?" I asked myself as the gun turned into black mist and returned inside my chest where it belonged.


	17. Christmas Spirit

" _Mom!" I called her "Have you found the Christmas tree yet?"_

" _I just did, Frisk. Here, let me put this...over here..." her voice was even sweeter than the candies I had just eaten._

 _I entered the living room: Mom had just finished setting up the small Christmas tree in the middle of the room and was pulling out all the festal decorations out of their containers. We didn't have a big tree to use as a pine in our garden...and even if we did I wouldn't have been able to enjoy it...so we used a small, kid-sized one instead. Sure, it was really, really small...but it was pretty!_

 _We didn't have a lot to decorate the tree with, but every year Mom bought a few new decorations, even though our budget was pretty tight. Even though our choices were technically limited, they really weren't: every year, we decorated the tree differently...then we would took a photo of it and we would store it in an album, so that we wouldn't ever forgot those amazing moments together..._

" _So, what do you want to hear this time?" Mom asked me, gentle as always._

" _All I want for Christmas is you, of course!" that song had a...magical feeling to it, and I never got tired of listening to it._

" _Oh, come on! We listened to it last year as well!" she teased me, not really against my decision._

" _Who cares? That was three-hundred-sixty-five days ago: it doesn't matter if I listened to it the previous Christmas!"_

" _That's what you said last Christmas as well..." she looked away, still fooling around._

" _Mom!" I called her, annoyed._

" _Fine, I'll go." she chuckled as she went into the storage room and returned with a black vinyl record. She put the record into the record player we kept in the living room and began singing along as the song started. We could've used Mom's phone to play the song, but the audio quality was terrible and we much preferred using the record player whenever possible._

 _As the song sped up, I sang with more and more energy and vigor, never missing a note; maybe Mom could've used some improvements, but in the end I felt like we were better than the singer herself!_

 _The song eventually ended, much to my chagrin: Mom put the record back in the storage room and rejoined me in the living room._

" _Wouldn't it be amazing if it were Christmas all day of the year?" I was sad, knowing that everything would've eventually ended and that another year would've had to pass before I could relive it all again._

 _Mom laughed softly and answered "Oh, Frisk...you're so childish sometimes!" she rubbed my hair as she explained "If it were Christmas all-year long, it wouldn't be the same. The reason why festivities are so special is because they happen once every year...that's why we enjoy them so much, believe it or not." even though I still didn't like it, I had to admit she was right. As usual._

 _That's when I noticed she was looking the other way, almost crying "I wish this could all last together...that I could..." she didn't finish her sentence and instead looked at me, finding consolation in my visage "Don't worry dear, I was just...thinking."_

" _About what?" I asked her as she enveloped me in a tight hug._

" _About the future." she let me go and smiled at me "But the future can always wait: let's enjoy the present while we can, shall we?" I nodded and held her hand as we moved towards the kitchen to cook our lunch._

* * *

" _F-Frisk...are you still here?" Mom asked me, too tired to keep her eyes open._

" _O-Of course mom, I'm right here." I answered just as scared as she was as I gave her the glass of water she requested. It had been a month since she began feeling unwell but...that week, her conditioned worsened even more. She couldn't even get up from her bed anymore, and I had to do all the chores around the house...of course, I would've gladly done it every day in exchange for my Mom's well-being._

" _F-Frisk...I'm afraid we won't celebrate Christmas together this year..." she managed to whisper me between a cough and another._

" _Don't say that!" I wasn't prepared to cope with Mom's...with Mom's...I didn't even want to think of it: without Mom, what would I have done?_

" _Frisk...life is full of beginnings and ends, of "good mornings" and "good nights". Apparently, today is the day...of my final "good night"..." she coughed once again as she continued "It's not your fault, it never was. I know you're not gonna take this lightly...but please, at least don't deny the truth. Do me this one favor, my child..."_

 _Was this really it? Was this really the last time I would've saw Mom? I wished I could've had more time...more time to spend with her, more games to play, more dishes to cook, more books to read, more lessons to learn, more songs to sing...but I had to face the truth: I wasn't going to have any of that._

" _Frisk, are you afraid?" Mom asked me. I nodded as I dried my face of all the tears I had spilled._

" _Do you think you won't be able to cope with my loss?" she asked me, still trying to act calm despite the situation. I nodded once more, not understanding what she could possibly mean._

" _Then...win your fears." she was struggling to breathe and I was doing all that I could to help her "Go...to Mount Ebott. I know you'll be afraid, but I'm confident in your abilities...you will do it." was she trying to get rid of my fear by getting rid of another one first? I couldn't understand...I just...couldn't understand...but I had to do it, of that I was sure._

" _Don't mind me, I won't go anywhere." she nervously chuckled as she told me to get going immediately "I'll be watching you, don't worry." of that I was sure, she would've been watching me...the moment I exited the room and closed the door, I felt as if I had just killed her myself.  
I wanted to reopen that door, to help her to the very end, to make sure she died in peace...but she trusted me, and I couldn't break that unspoken promise. I grabbed the keys to the old car she still held in our garage and exited the house, sadness neutralizing my fears, and entered the cold, snow-covered car._

 _Thankfully, there was still some gasoline left in the tank: I knew how to drive a car, I had read many books and played many games after all. I knew I could've done it...I hoped, at least._

 _That's when I remembered an old legend my Mom used to tell me when I was a kid: that all little kids that go to Ebott never returned. I knew it was only a way to keep kids away from that perilous mountain...but that sparked an idea within me: perhaps...I should've never returned from that mountain. Mom was going to die after all, and nobody would've helped me afterwards: if I couldn't live with her, I would've died with her.  
A mountain was sure to have lots of ways to kill unafraid visitors, right?_

* * *

 _I arrived at the house rather angered, due to the accidents that happened before that morning: I woke up late, got lectured by my boss again and my car broke half-way. A classic. Honestly, that's not even the worse that could've happened._

 _Anyway, I knocked the door and waited for someone to come and open me...but nobody came. I tried again, same response. Not a noise to be heard either: if I actually gave a shit, I would've become worried. I tried to open the door myself and realized it was open, so I took the liberty of entering the house uninvited: I found myself in a living room full of bookshelves and other pieces of furniture...some newer than others, but, once again, no trace of the owners. Or owner, I should say._

 _I soon noticed a small fake Christmas tree in the middle of the room: it was devoid of decorations, just like the rest of the house...a bit odd considering only a few days were left before the start of the festivities. That reminded me that I would've had only like...two days of vacation: thanks again boss. I love you too._

 _I heard some coughing coming from another room and immediately made my way over there: I entered a poorly-furnished bedroom, where an old woman in her fifties was sleeping in a huge bed. She looked very, very ill...in fact, she seemed as though she was going to die soon. What a shame._

 _I noticed she was still breathing, so I approached her and tried to help her any way that I could: I was still a human being, after all "Are you feeling alright?"_

 _She coughed once again as she finally managed to answer "Am I still alive? That's probably why it hurts so much..." it did look like she was in great pain. I almost pitied her._

" _I'm calling an ambulance." I warned her as I grabbed my phone and started typing._

" _They won't make it in time." she answered, calm "There's no sense in calling them." as she finished that sentence, an ambulance had already been sent at our location. I had always been quick when it came to explaining things._

" _Are you...here for the loan?" she inquired me, still rather calm. At least she knew what her priorities were in that horrible situation._

" _Yes, I am. Dante Alighieri, nice to meet you. Sort of. I would've preferred meeting you under different circumstances, but..." I leaned in on her, perhaps a bit too insensitive on her condition "...I've got a job to do. Tell me how can you repay my bank, now." it took her a while to actually answer, most likely due to fatigue "...I don't have the money with me."_

" _What do you mean you don't have the money with you?" well, it made sense considering she was in her deathbed. Still, if she didn't repay her debt, I would've been in deep shit...indirectly, at least._

" _My child..." she mumbled as she started rolling in her bed "She has...all the answers...she is...my treasure..." I thought she had gone nuts so I waited for her to make herself clear "My child...I told her to go...to Mount Ebott...please, protect her..."_

" _What the heck is wrong with you?" I yelled, annoyed at the woman's arrogance "Not only do you not have the money to pay, but you want me to go find your daughter as well? Hell no!" and yet...she looked so pitiful I actually started caring, even for a little. I started feeling like...I should've done this old woman a favor before she departed, even though I really didn't have the time._

 _I asked the woman a few things about her daughter, to which she answered "You need to find her...protect her...she can't stand open spaces...but she is strong, she will deal with it..."_

" _You said your daughter had all the answers." I added "What do you mean?"_

" _You will see..." she mumbled as I heard the ambulance's siren right outside the door. Just as the woman seemingly expired. Fuck my luck._

 _I gave the nurse my cellphone number to keep me adjourned on her status, even though I perfectly knew she wasn't going to survive...I didn't know why I did that, maybe to let the little girl know in case she didn't know about her mother's death._

 _With no better thing to do and with no penny in sight, I decided to head for Mount Ebott, hoping that this little kid would've had the answers I was looking for...but mostly the money. Especially the money._

 _*Now that I think of it...* I wondered *My superiors never mentioned that that woman had a child.*_

* * *

"Asriel?" I heard Frisk beckon me.

"Yes, Frisk?" I replied.

"Could you...could you please hug me?" a sudden request indeed...but she seemed cold and scared and I wanted to help her any way I could. At first, I felt a bit uncomfortable as I crouched and hugged the human...but the embarrassment soon faded away and happiness replaced it entirely. I would have loved to stay like that forever.  
"I don't want to let go..." Frisk whispered, still a bit shaken "I want to stay like this forever..."

"...We cannot stay like this forever, Frisk..." I tried to explain her "I would like to, but we just...cannot..." I did not lie to her in the slightest, to be perfectly frank: being so close to her...it almost felt right, as if my place was right alongside her.

* **Is that Undyne over there?** * I heard my sibling say in my mind, surprised. I got up and scouted the room, but the Royal Guard was nowhere to be seen. A joke, of course...I thanked Chara for being a huge moron as always and tried to console Frisk, who had not taken my sudden reaction very lightly "I am sorry, Frisk...I thought I heard something..."

"It's fine." she dried a tear that was about to stream down her face "Let's move on before Unydne comes back..."


	18. Waterfall (Part 3)

" _Dad?" I saw father tending to his garden and thought it was the perfect opportunity to inquire him something "Do you have a minute?" I asked, hoping he was not too busy._

" _Of course, my son." father answered, inviting me to ask him anything I wanted._

" _You once lived on the Surface, right?" I knew he missed the Surface, and that question probably made him remember how much he missed it...but I so desperately wanted to know "When you think of the Surface, what is the first thing you think of?"_

 _It took a while for him to finally answer "Green."_

" _W-What?" I sincerely did not understand what he meant._

" _Whenever I looked around, back on the Surface...everything I could see was green: the trees, the grass...green is the color of nature, which is something I truly miss." there were few trees in the Underground, which miraculously managed to grow despite the place they chose to live...but none of them had even a pint of green in them._

" _I see...so, when you think of happiness, you think of green, right?" I asked, believing that the Surface meant happiness for all of us. He chuckled at my question as he answered "No no, my son: happiness, to me, is...every color!"_

" _Every color?" did happiness not possess a representative color? Or was happiness a sum of all existing colors? I asked that to father, who explained "To be honest, when I think of happiness, I think about you and Chara. However, if I have to choose a color to represent happiness with, I will say that all colors, together, are happiness. Have I ever told you what a rainbow is, Asriel?" I answered negatively "It's a beautiful arc in the sky that appears after rain: it's made out of many colors and it's universally recognized as a symbol of peace. It's no coincidence it comes after rain: sad and fearful times may last as long as they want but, in the end, a rainbow always appears in the sky, meaning we can return to our normal lives..."_

" _ **I have to disagree.** " their voice made me jump: since how long had They been there, listening to our conversation? " **I don't want to talk about the "happiness" thing, because I know you wouldn't understand...but if you think the Surface is still all green, you are mistaken. Gray is the new green, tall buildings now replace your beloved forests...humanity has a nifty habit for destroying everything that it can. If they found a way to get rid of rainbows, I bet they would do it immediately...thankfully, that is still not the case.** "_

 _Their stomach rumbled, so They left claiming that They were going to the kitchen to eat something quick " **Anyway, I wouldn't be so excited about returning to the Surface: it certainly wouldn't be any better than the cave you're currently residing in...but, if you're so determined to get to the Surface, I will make sure you get to it. At any cost.** "_

* * *

We made our way through many, many rooms, all full of puzzles: we were getting rather tired and I would have gladly wanted to rest for a bit, but with the omnipresent threat of Undyne's azure magic lance I was not going to stop any time soon.

That's when we spotted a small, ruined stone statue standing in the corner of the corridor we were currently traversing: perhaps "ruined" is not enough, the level of misuse of that small construction was far beyond anything I had ever seen...perhaps in origin it was the sculpture of a monster, but now it was too damaged to represent anything.

The ceiling was dripping water over the statue, which made me a bit sad: I felt like I needed to do something to stop the dripping, even though I was not quite sure why. Thankfully, a conveniently-placed bin full of umbrellas stood a few feet away from the sculpture: I took an umbrella and positioned it next to the construction, hoping it would shield it from the water.

Without warning, a strange music began playing from inside the statue: I was unsure why was it playing only now, but I did know it was playing from a carillon located inside the carving. The music felt...familiar, but I had never heard it before in my life.  
"This music is...so weird." Frisk commented "I feel like I want to listen to it...but, at the same time, I don't want to." I did not know what to say, so I let her continue "It's...so sad. It reminds me of...someone I lost...but I can't remember exactly who I lost..." I asked if she was talking about her mother, even though I feared if would have pained her to recall "No...it reminds me...of you." what did she mean by that, I wondered? How could that little song remind her of...me? Had she heard it before, was it popular on the Surface perhaps? If so, how did...I realized I was thinking too much about a simple carillon, we did not have time to waste hearing stupid songs.

"As much as I would like to understand you better, Frisk, I believe it is time we resume our walk: every second we waste is a second Undyne can use to ambush us." she nodded and we continued down the hallway.

"Hey, you haven't finished telling me about the war between humans and monsters." Frisk reminded me as we walked.

"Oh, right." as much as I hated talking about that war, I had to finish what I had started "The humans started the war, since they feared our power of taking their Souls and wanted us dead...extinct even. It only lasted a couple battles: not a single human Soul was taken, but countless monsters died in an attempt to protect their homeland. Without a place to run towards, we sought refuge in Mount Ebott...but the humans did not leave us alone: they summoned their most powerful wizards, seven to be precise, and created a magical barrier at the entrance of the mountain. That barrier prevents us monsters from leaving this place...and, even though there is a way to break it, it's clear it will never be broken. We will be stuck here...forever."

Something hit me in the head, something cold and liquid: I looked upwards only to be hit by a water drop in the eye. The ceiling above us was dripping large quantities of water, so much water in fact I was surprised the entire area was not submerged by it: Frisk told me she was going to go back and grab an umbrella for us two, which she did shortly after. After I grabbed the umbrella and finally thought we could proceed, I noticed a figure laying in a corner of the room where water was, miraculously, not falling from the ceiling: the same monster kid we had seen many times before in Waterfall, who, upon spotting us, immediately tried to get our attention "Yo! You have an umbrella? Great! Can I please come with you, then?" and here I thought silence could last a bit longer. I already knew Frisk was going to say yes, so I said it first, trying to sound convincingly good.

"Why did you not grab one yourself, may I ask?" I inquired the young one as I shielded him with my umbrella.

"I don't have hands." he simply answered, seemingly not affected by his own statement.

* **Good job, you idiot! You demonstrated once again how little brain you possess: I couldn't possibly be more proud of you.** * obviously They were joking, but that only made me more embarrassed.

"Why do you admire Undyne so much?" Frisk asked as we traversed the room.

"Why? Why wouldn't you? She's cool, she beats up bad guys, she's super strong, she's..." the list went on and on, I had never heard a kid praise a complete stranger this much...even though that stranger was basically a hero for the general population of the Underground.

As the two children conversed about MK's interest in Undyne, we exited the small cavern we were in: we were now walking on a suspended road, in what could have been considered "outside"...if we were not inside another, bigger cavern. It still rained though.

"Hey, did you know the King once visited my school?" I heard the small monster ask.

"Did f- ...the King really visit your school?" I almost blew my cover...still, I honestly wanted to know what my parents had been doing ever since I left...I did not have any intention of meeting them personally, so all information I could gain on them was important "Yeah! It was cool! He came to teach us about responsibility and stuff: he gave us a flower each and told us to take care of it...but mine died before I could return home." he did not seem sad about it, but neither happy.

"I bet your teachers punished you for it." I remembered my teachers being very strict with their students.

"Nah: once I explained the King I lived in Snowdin, he told my teachers to be softer with me: "monsters living in Snowdin already have enough problems as it is", he said, or something like that. Man, the King was so cool...but Undyne's way cooler!"

* **Kids are so young...but they already prefer the strongest to the wisest: despite their inexperience, they are way smarter than adults.** *

*Strong people are not better than wise ones...and it's normal for a kid to like a strong person, so please keep your ranting to yourself.* I was tired of discussing with Them, They were starting to annoy me.

* **Apparently, not all kids are smart: you, for example, never understood a basic truth...power is everything. Without power, nothing is ever achieved.** * They tried to convince me.

*Is that so? Well, without knowledge, nothing _good_ is ever achieved.* I shut their mouth. They did not reply, but I knew I had yet to convince Them.

"Wow! What is that?" Frisk pointed at something in the distance and I turned to take a look: the Royal Palace stood over the city of New Home, a beacon of hope for my people...I had to admit, the view was indeed breathtaking; I never quite understood how or why we could see the castle from such a distance, as I knew it was much closer than the view would make us think, but I believe it had something to do with the cave's proportions or something like that...I do not know, I am not a man of science.

"That building...it's a castle, right?" Frisk asked, curious "What kind of place is that?"

"Have you forgotten or something?" the child asked, suspicious "That's the Royal Palace, that's where the King and Queen live!"

"Wait, for real? There's a King and a Queen?" the human turned towards me, probably questioning why I had never told her about it.

"Dude, have you slept under a rock your whole life? Of course there's a King and a Queen...I know there's a Prince as well, but...you never hear about him. They say he ran away, that he left the castle and his family...rumor has it he's actually on the Surface, trying to find a way to free us all." I would have never thought such a rumor could exist: who could be idiotic enough to spread it? I had never heard such a blatant lie in my whole lifetime...but I could not say the truth out loud or I would have been exposed.

Anyway, the monster still thought of Frisk as one of his brethren: despite how he managed to confuse her for a monster and made her look dumb for no reason, she tolerated his idiocies with calm and respect. I wish I had her same composure...I never achieved her level of politeness, regardless of what you may think.

Eventually, after another minute of walking, the rain stopped...or rather, we entered a section of the cave where it did not rain: another bin stood by, full of umbrellas, and put our own inside there to make sure others could use it.

We soon reached a tall ledge, one just as tall as me and the other two kids summed: I offered the two children help, which they gladly accepted, and proceeded to throw them over the ledge, far above me.

"How are you going to reach us, though?" the monster kid asked.

"I have my ways." I answered "Stand back you two, else you want to get burned!" they did just as I asked and retreated: I walked a few feet backwards then charged at the ledge, using my fire powers at the last second to blast the floor and propel me upwards. I had practiced that move for years and I now could use it without fear of burning my own ears by accident.

"Wow, you're so cool goat-bro!" I just realized it had been a while since Frisk called me that, and I was not sure if I still hated that name...or actually grew fond of it. A weird mix of the two, perhaps.

"Oh, come on: I did nothing special." I said as I blushed from the compliment.

The monster kid seemed in a hurry, so he left immediately after thanking us "Thanks for your help, but I need to find Undyne! Good luck!" once again, he ran, he tripped, he got up, then got away...it began feeling more like a returning gag than a funny coincidence.

* **Anyway, you missed the opportunity to tell that idiot Undyne was after us.** * They reminded me; I facepalmed as soon as They said that, I had never forgotten something so important before... * **Too late to tell him now, you have to keep going and hope you don't run into him again...** * for once, They were actually being useful.

As we proceeded down the dark corridor the kid had just ran through, Frisk continued the conversation from before "So the humans sealed you monsters below this mountain...and built a barrier to block your escape. Isn't there a way to break this barrier?" she asked, preoccupied.

"There is a way: if someone were to use a power equal to seven human Souls, the barrier would shatter...but that would require the death of seven humans, something monsters agreed never to claim. We may have lost the war, our loved ones, our hope...but we have not lost our dignity nor our honor: we will not harm any innocents for our personal gain...that is what the King declared."

As we chatted, I heard a suspicious noise and urged the human to halt her walk and listen: even though the noise had ceased, I felt...tension in the air. Something was not right, of that I was sure. I knew we were about to be ambushed: our surroundings looked like the perfect place to act a surprise attack...but I had yet to figure out where the attack would have come from.

I almost died of an heart attack when I saw an azure spear emerging from the ground right next to me, followed by at least five or six more popping out at random intervals and at random locations: even though I could not understand why our attacker was behaving this way, I did not have time to figure that out as we had to start running for our lives.

It proved surprisingly hard to see in the dark (who would have guessed?) and I eventually had to rely on pure luck to move forward, our only source of light in the darkness being those dangerously sharp lances that threatened to end our lives were we not careful. Thinking about it, I could have summoned some flames to guide our path...but fear prevented me from acting rationally, it swallowed my thoughts and my ideas with an insatiable hunger that I could not quench.

We kept moving forward, ignoring our surroundings, hoping to outrun our pursuer...but we eventually got lost: I realized that when Frisk almost saved me from falling into a chasm the path we had chosen led to...I had doomed us both."

"This is not good: we need to find another way!" I shouted as I tried to go back, but...there she stood.

Wearing her black armor, the warrior Undyne blocked our path, her yellow eye glowing in the obscurity of the cave. I did not have any intention of fighting a warrior of her caliber, especially near an abyss and with near to no visibility...I ended up just watching her as she summoned a huge spear and impaled the ground below her feet: the ground below me shook as I felt gravity pulling me downwards...we were falling.

"Asriel!" Frisk called my name from below me: I dived in after her, speeding up my impending doom...but it was worth it, for I found her: as soon as I hugged her familiar body, I tried to find a way to protect her from the impact we were about to experience...  
The worst part about falling in a lightless abyss...is that you never know when you will hit the bottom.

* * *

 _I stared at the darkness for what looked like ages, not sure of what to do. I tried to move, but my body did not respond to my commands: had Chara taken control once more? I would have liked to be scared, to fear for Frisk's sake...but I did not feel anything._

 _I looked downwards, without me wanting to: my body was smaller than I remembered...and that green and yellow sweater...I remembered wearing it when I was a kid. Had my age regressed without me noticing? Whose fault was this?_

" _Finally." I heard my own voice, but younger and softer "I was so tired of being a flower." I turned around, again without me wishing to do so and saw...Frisk. Wearing a sad and almost...defeated expression, she stood before me prepared for battle. I thought Chara had challenged her once more...but then I realized I could not feel Them. I was alone, but I was sure somebody was controlling me...what was going on?_

" _Chara, can you hear me? It's me, your best friend." I was surprised the voice confused Frisk for my sibling...until I finally realized that they were both quite similar. No, they were not...why was I thinking that? Who was forcing those thoughts into my mind?_

 _My body emitted some light, blinding me for an instant, and when it disappeared I had regained my normal body, even though I was still just an unheard voice echoing in the darkness. The voice from before spoke again, but with my own voice " **ASRIEL DREEMURR** "_

" _This is the end...I'm sorry." I heard Frisk whisper with a voice as cold as ice itself; it did not seem as though whoever controlled my body heard that, however, as they did not react in the slightest to her words._

 _All the colors I had seen in my life appeared in the background, lighting the darkness: the more I looked at that mash of colors, the more my feeling of discomfort rose. Those colors...felt too unnatural to be real._

" _You know...I don't even care about destroying this world anymore." I said...I mean, the voice said...it was becoming a bit difficult to tell what words were mine and what words were theirs. As the voice spoke, shooting stars appeared out of nowhere and rained down upon the human, who dodged them effortlessly, as if...she had seen them coming. For some reason, that made me even more unsettled._

" _After I defeat you and gain total control over the timeline...I just want to reset everything!" this was becoming far too dangerous...not only was the guy controlling my body completely insane, he was also threatening Frisk by attacking them with...magic that I never used in my entire life. To be honest, the power required to shoot so many projectiles with such intensity is...remarkable. Not even I would be capable of that. I also wondered what did this guy mean when he spoke about "timelines" and "resets"...was he being serious or was he simply crazy?_

 _A pair of odd-looking but extremely sharp blades appeared in my paws as I charged at the human to hit her from melee range...I hoped they missed with all my heart. Thankfully, the human avoided the attack without any trouble...but that expression...was she even listening, I wondered? What could she possibly be thinking...and how could she do that without getting hit?_

" _All your progress...everyone's memories...I'll bring them all back to zero!" The voice summoned lighting from the inexistent ceiling, but the storm missed the girl just as everything before did"Then we can do everything ALL over again!" bringing everyone's memories...back to zero...what were they talking about? What did they want from Frisk again?_

 _More shooting stars crashed down from above, but once again they did nothing to stop the human "And you know what the best part of all this is? You'll DO it!" they were pretty convinced, that was for sure. I wondered how they could be so confident even while facing such a difficult opponent. Some sort of gigantic beam weapon appeared in my right hand and the voice tried to use it to shoot down the girl, failing miserably: they even tried charging the weapon, delivering a huge, powerful final laser beam, but they did not even come close to hitting her"And then you'll lose to me again..." the voice summoned two more swords but all it's slashes kept missing: how could Frisk foresee each attack? It looked like she knew everything that were to happen before it even did! "And again. And again. Because you want a happy ending. Because you "care about your friends"." they tried to bring down the human with everything they had got, but they kept missing...I wondered if they were even trying "Because you never give up..."_

" _STOP IT!" the human finally spoke, emptying my head...and apparently that of the entity controlling me: that sudden burst of rage and tears...was definitely unexpected. Uncalled for, even._

" _I can't...I can't do it..." she mumbled, on the verge of a nervous breakdown "If I win, it won't mean anything...we'll just be back here again, and again, and again...I'm tired of winning! I'm tired of ruining everything for everyone just because I'm selfish! Can't you see? I can't do it!" she fell on her knees as rivers of tears streamed down her eyes "For the first time...for the first time in my life, I... **I give up**..."_


	19. Waterfall (Part 4)

" _Hey, Chara!" I called my sibling; I had just thought of something and I wanted to ask my sibling what did They think about it._

 _Sighing, my sibling asked me " **What is it Asriel? It better not be another one of your stupid questions...** " even though They were always a bit mean with me, I never got angry at Them for talking to me like that._

" _Sorry Chara...I was just thinking: what would you do if you had all the money in the world? It would be awesome, right?" as usual, my sibling turned around and replied " **Another idiotic question. You never surprise me, Asriel...why should I bother answering it? There's no way I'll ever get that much money: why even bother, I wonder?** "_

" _B-But what if you did?" I tried asking Them again "Imagine all the things you could do if-"_

" _ **Money is useless.** " They replied, angered " **Aren't you satisfied with what you already have? Besides, why would I even want to use money when I can take what I want whenever I want? If you want something, you take it for yourself: that's how this world works!** " I never resorted to taking something for myself without paying for it: what kind of world did Chara live in? Surely not the one They were in now...that made me think, however..._

 _As my sibling turned around and left the room, I wondered...exactly, what was the Surface like? What did the humans do my sibling for Them to start thinking like that? And...most importantly, what could I do to make Them realize their mistakes?_

* * *

When I finally woke up, I was sweating and breathing heavily: I got up and realized I had been sleeping on a strange patch of golden flowers, surrounded by water and massive amounts of garbage...where were we?

I tried to recall the events that led me there: I remembered Undyne pursuing us, reaching a dead end...and falling into a pit! That's right! We had fallen into...where was Frisk? I looked around and found her lying on the ground right next to where I was, unconscious. Was she sleeping...or was she...

After a hasty inspection, I was relieved to find out she was still breathing and her heart was still beating, which meant she was still alive. Thank goodness...I did not go through all that trouble to see her die right there.

* **Well, well, well...look who just woke up.** * my sibling greeted me * **You don't know how scared I was, left wondering if my brother would've made it or not...** * They had not been as preoccupied as They wanted me to believe, I could sense it in their voice, but that did not mean They did not care for me.

I tried to talk with Them, but my head still hurt a little...was it because of the fall or because of the weird dream I had? *It is nice to hear from you too, Chara. Anyways, I had the strangest of dreams just now...what do you think about it?* I knew Chara could look into my dreams, as they were registered in my memory...sometimes They could even seem them as they happened, but it did not look like that was the case back then.

* **A dream, you say? Why would I be interested in...wait, what is this? It doesn't look like one of your usual...wow, you tried to kill the girl by yourself? I think your subconscious is trying to tell you something...** * of course They had to say that... * **Your dialogue though...I haven't heard you say dorky stuff like that in a while! I remember when we were kids and we played Monsters and Humans...you were such an idiot back then...** *

*At least I was happy.* but enough talking: Frisk was still down. I tried to wake her up by shaking her softly, which worked almost instantly "Asriel? Is...is that you?" she asked, still half-asleep.

"Of course Frisk." I answered "I am right here, by your side. Are you feeling alright?"

"Y-Yes..." she answered as she got up "I just had the weirdest of dreams...you were in it too!" wait, what? A dream...with me in it? Did she...no, it was not the right time to think about that: we were in unknown territory and the risk of being attacked, either by random monsters seeking for a brawl or by Undyne herself was high. We needed to get out of there and get back on track.

"I would like to know more about your dream..." I said as I cleaned her clothes of some dirt and filth "But we need to leave this place, right now. We are in a dangerous spot, right now..."

"Speaking of which, what is this place?" the human asked me as she looked around. I took another look around the room, and deducted we were in some sort of junkyard...or garbage dump. Now that I thought about it, I had once heard of a place in Waterfall where objects from the human world occasionally fell into: we were likely in that place.

As I scouted the room, I noticed what looked like a wooden chest atop a pile of useless garbage: it looked suspicious, so I climbed the pile of things and inspected it. It was not locked by a padlock, so opening it would have been rather easy, I thought.

I opened the chest and surprisingly found three items inside: a...my, it feels so stupid to say it out loud...a plastic bag full of what looked like feces, an empty brown bag and a message written on white paper.

I grabbed the contents of the chest and approached Frisk, who seemed interested by the contents "What are those? Why did you take them?" I was asking myself that question too.

"I do not know...well, now that I did, I might as well read the note." I grabbed the paper and read the words written on it "How to make infinite money in three steps. Step one: put the dog residue inside the bag. Step two: pull out the dog residue. Step three: profit!" what kind of idiotic, senseless instructions were those? How could I make profit out of...dog residue?

The human grabbed the two bags as I wondered about the paper and inserted the plastic bag inside the other bag, which immediately closed: when we reopened it, the bag had been filled with more feces...thankfully already inserted in plastic bags.

"What the...how does this even work?" I asked aloud, speechless.

"This is cool...but how can we make money off of this?" Frisk inquired to herself "Hmm...does the paper mention something else?" I inspected the paper once again, and found out more words had been written on it's back, which I did not read aloud because...well, read them yourselves.

"I hope this helps you in your travels, my sweet prince. I am looking forward to meet you.

-The Observer"

"So? What does it say?" Frisk asked me, curious.

"It says that the man who left these things here is called "The Observer". Nothing more, nothing else." telling her exactly what words were inscribed on the paper would have made her question my true identity, something that I wished did not happen. The human obviously wanted to know more, but she realized it was not the right time to ask so she refrained from doing so, much to my relief.

I put the paper in my robe's pocket along with the strange brown bag and all those samples of feces...I had a feeling they would have turned useful later.

With that...weird event taken care of, we decided to focus solely on getting out of there: we finally found what looked like a path and followed it, hoping it would have brought us closer to the exit from that junkyard.

Our searches seemed to have brought fruit, as we finally found a set of stairs at the end of a flooded corridor: we had not found any other exits in our small search, and we were not in the mood to make a second one. If those stairs did not let us out, I would have been very angered.

As we made our way to the stairs, I noticed an abandoned training dummy almost drowning in the water: it certainly looked better than the one I had in the ruins, I almost considered bringing it with me to replace the old one...but it would have taken time and resources to do so, and I had neither.

Anyway, as I was saying, we almost reached the stairs when we heard a noise coming from behind us: we turned around and found out that the dummy was producing it by vibrating senselessly, even though I did not understand how could it do that. Suddenly, the dummy jumped up in the air and flew (or rather, floated) all the way through the room, blocking our path by standing right between us and our sole exit "Hahaha! Are you not going to set me on fire, you white-furred demon?" it looked like the dummy could talk...just what in the world was happening? "After so many years...we finally meet, you demon!" why was he calling me that, I wondered?

"Hey goat-bro, do you know this guy?" Frisk asked me, confused.

"Oh, I do not know, I am pretty sure I would remember a complete psycho like him though." I answered, sarcastic.

"I am a ghost that lives inside a dummy, you dummies!" the dummy explained "My cousin used to live inside a dummy too...the one you keep burning every single day!" ob my...that guy could not possibly be serious "My poor cousin fled in pain after the umpteenth time you used him to practice! Dummies weren't meant to be used like tools!"

"Actually, they were." I replied, not sure whether to take him seriously or not "That's why they are called "training dummies" after all.."

"Whatever! Whatever! WHATEVER!" the ghost answered, suddenly furious "I don't care! You committed a crime against dummy-kind, and I will see you punished for that!"

* **Why are we still arguing with this freak?** * my sibling asked me, annoyed * **This guy is completely insane: let's teach him never to mess with us again!** * for once, I agreed with Them: Frisk would not have agreed, but I felt like there was no way we could have got rid of that monster without a fight.

[Touhou Mutsuigeki - Concealed the Conclusion: Demystify Feast ( watch?v=b_Fjf2ey5ew&index=13&list=PL7E05D49F3DF35319)]

I summoned some black flames in my hands and launched them at the monster, hoping to end the fight quickly before the human could get angry at me for my course of action: even though I hit my target perfectly, my attacks seemed to have dealt no damage "W-What? How could this happen?"

"Hahaha! You are a huge dummy, you know it? I'll have you know I bought a fire-proof shield online the other day! Your attacks are useless!" a fire-proof shield? Just how much did science progress ever since I left the capital? If the monster was not lying, and I understood what he said correctly, then there was no way I could even hurt my enemy, much less beat him!

As I tried to figure out a way to proceed, the monster decided to shift to the offensive: some smaller dummies emerged from the water a few feet away from us and began shooting what looked like projectiles made out of cotton...and magic. Most likely magic. Even though Frisk was getting even better at dodging bullets, my technique was still as flawed as ever and I risked to be hit multiple times. One time she even had to push me out of the way of the incoming attack: never before did I feel so...useless.

"Asriel, back off! I will take care of him!" Frisk shouted at me, determined.

"W-What? Are you crazy? Do you really expect me to let you fight this freak alone?" I yelled in return, not wanting her to get hurt because of my uselessness.

* **Do as she says.** * of course They would say that; I was about to yell at Them as well, but They explained themselves rather well * **Right now, there's nothing we can do to help her. Right now, we are a moving target: our attacks are useless! Our only hope of winning this battle is the human's...timer, or whatever: we need only wait for her to lower that monster's defense...afterwards, we will be able to hit him and end the fight.** * even though I did not want to leave the human alone, I had to admit that plan was extremely good.

"Be careful!" I ordered the human as I positioned outside the dummy's attack range.

"What? Are you serious? I want to kill YOU, not this stupid kid!" I wanted to punch him so badly...and knowing that I could not made it even more frustrating.

The human kept dodging the dummies' attacks with grace, moving just barely out of the way whenever those balls of cotton threatened to hit her "Is that all you've got? I've faced worse challenges than you." meanwhile, her timer had decreased of roughly one minute: if Frisk kept her guard up, it was only a matter of time before we won.

That's when, however, things got a bit difficult: after the dummies umpteenth rant towards his fellow dummies, they all started shooting many more projectiles and much faster than before, causing Frisk to actually put some effort in her dodges. They even started popping up at her sides and behind her, and the intensity of their attacks only kept rising.

I had to do something, but I did not know what to do.

* **I wonder...that idiot's got a fire-proof shield on, right? But that can't possibly affect his attacks...right?** * Chara brought out a valid point: could I shoot down incoming projectiles with my magic? I tried to shoot some flames at some balls that were dangerously near the human, and surprisingly it worked! The balls of cotton fell burning into the drowned floor below them, ending their brief existence. Frisk thanked me for the help and I tried to shoot down as many of those attacks as possible, still keeping myself at a distance.

"Dummies! Dummies! DUMMIES! You are utterly worthless! You are a complete disappointment!" the dummy ranted, scaring those little dummies a bit "You know what? I'M DONE WITH YOU! YOU ARE ALL FIRED!" all the dummies disappeared at once, leaving only me, Frisk and that psychopathic monster in the large room "I don't need those brainless dummies! I can beat you all by myself! I will now show you my true-"

"You know what else has been fired?" I heard a familiar voice talk behind my back; soon afterwards, I heard a loud shot and what looked like a small, fast projectile perforated the dummy, scaring him to death...at least, it would have if we were not talking about a ghost. Still, even though something clearly pierced the dummy's soft body, I could see no holes in it's fabric whatsoever.  
I turned around and...much to my surprise, there stood the other human, Dante or whatever, holding what looked like a black...weapon, perhaps? I was not sure, but the human was pointing it at the monster so...maybe, I thought, that's what had caused that noise just a few seconds before. "My gun." the human finished his horrible joke...back then I did not understand the meaning of his joke, but now that I do...I wish I did not.

"W-What was that?" the dummy was still in shock after the human's intervention "I-I got hit? Impossible! Inconceivable! UNBELIEVABLE! That's it, I'm outta here! Smell you later, dummies!" just like that, the monster flew towards the ceiling and disappeared...I mean, he was a ghost, after all...but how in the world did he bring his body with him?

Now that the fight was over, I could finally check on Frisk and see if she was hurt: thankfully, she was not, even though she had been under heavy fire all the time. Curiously, the man expressed interest towards the human's health state, even though he did not comment after I told him she was fine.

"So...are you going to thank me or what?" the human briefly asked before shrugging his shoulders and retract his question "Nah, I'm just kidding. You're welcome, kiddos." was I included in the "kiddos", I wondered? It looked like I was. Still, that was not enough to make me angry or anything: I was used to being called stupid names by then.

The human still thanked him, but I asked the human a more...practical question instead "How did you know we were here?"

"I told you: I'm keeping track of your progress for...reasons." he winked at me, making me realize I had forgotten about that flower he had spoken about...speaking of which, I had never seen that little flower up until then: was there really a murderous flower out for human Souls or did the human simply lie to me?

"Okay...either way, what is that?" I pointed at that weird device he was holding in his hand.

"This? It's called a "gun": it's a human weapon that shoots projectiles at high speed...even though this one is much better than any other I've seen before. Heh...you never know what fancy stuff you can find in riches' trash..." apparently we had not been the only ones to find a few weird things in the garbage that day; still, that thing looked very different from the gift we had received: did he receive that weird message as well, I asked myself?

"Well, I have to go now." the human said as he turned around and began walking in the opposite direction "I've got places to go and asses to kick." how rude of him to speak like that in front of a girl...

"Excuse me, the exit is right there!" I told him, pointing at the stairs we had been trying to reach for a few minutes now.  
"I don't need no stairs." he said as he vanished in thin air. Good for him, I guess...

"Oh...hi guys." I heard a quiet, almost inaudible voice say behind our backs: I briefly wondered who that ghostly white figure floating in the air was...before realizing it was actually that ghost monster from the day before, Napstablook if I remembered correctly.

I asked him what was he doing in there, to which he answered "I don't live too far away from the garbage dump, so I come here every day. I feel...in my element. What are you two...doing here, though?" he asked, shy but curious.

"We are only passing by." I answered, not wanting to give away too much information.

"I...see..." the ghost replied, uncertain "Well, do you guys want to...come by my house? As I said, I live nearby...and I want to make up for...attacking you, yesterday..." that sounded like a great plan to me! We could wash away our stench by showering, eat some meals to regain our energy, maybe even rest a little bit...I could not wait!  
We immediately accepted our friend's proposal and made our way up the stairs, towards his house.

* * *

 _ **After a brief visit to Napstablook's house...**_

* * *

* **Well, that was freaking depressing.** * They were not even kidding: Napstablook's house was one of the worst houses I had ever seen in my life. No shower, no bathroom, no edible food...but hey, at least there was an incredibly sad and even depressing music in the background. Simply wonderful...I ran away as fast as I could, bringing Frisk with me before she could protest.

We were now wandering another rocky corridor, clueless as to where to go...that's when we saw an opening in the wall and a sign that read "Gerson's Shop: selling everything you can find by yourself at the garbage dump, but at a convenient price!" seriously? What kind of shop would advertise itself like that?

Needless to say, the human took the opportunity to enter the shop without my authorization and I was forced to follow her and stop her before she could do something stupid and uncalled for. The opening was quite large, but it was mostly filled by piles and piles of random garbage I could hardly call "useful"...in the center of the room, however, stood an old monster that resembled one of your "turtles" you have on the Surface, except it had human-like features, wore unconventional brown clothes and an even weirder hat and had one of the thickest accents I ever heard "Welcome to mah shop! 'S there anything ya need?"

"Actually, we are not here to buy anything..." I said as Frisk began looking in the trash for...who knows what she hoped to find, really "...We are simply...browsing."

"That's a shame, but I'm used ta it!" the old man did not seem bothered in the least, a reaction I did not expect...but was welcomed nonetheless "Say, what's yer name, sonny?" he asked me as he eyed me suspiciously with his only open, yellow eye.

"I..." if I did not answer, Frisk would have noticed something was off...but if I answered, that monster could have recognized me! I did not know what to do...ironically, I chose the riskiest option of the two "My name is Asriel, and that girl right there is Frisk. I am pleased to meet you, mister..."

"Ya can call me Gerson, sonny." he answered, seemingly not triggered by my response "Say, what's that bag you're carrying 'round over there?" he pointed at my mysterious brown bag, which had almost fell off the pocket I had tucked it in "Oh, this? Well, we found this bag in the garbage dump...along with these." I handed the shopkeeper both the dog residues and the instrument that multiplied them, hoping that he could tell me how exactly they worked and how could I make money off of that "I heard you can produce infinite money with this, do you know how or why?"

After a few minutes spent inspecting the bag and figuring out how it...worked, the shopkeeper came to a conclusion "Sonny, I think you just stumbled into a gold mine! Congrats!"

"A-Are you serious?" I asked in return, speechless.

"Yeah, I'm sure! But I ain't the right guy to sell this stuff to: there's another shop down the road, I'm sure ya'll recognize it when ya see it. That's where ya need to bring this stuff to if you want to make some good profit." to be frank, I did not expect that to happen at all: now those dreams I had when I was a kid were about to become reality! But...was it even worth it to gain money I would have never, ever used?

"Hey goat-bro, check this out!" Frisk beckoned me from across the room: she was holding what I reckoned was a violin and a small rod I believed was called a bow, needed to play it; I rushed to stop her from playing it before that Gerson could get angry, but she began playing it before I could even get close.

As soon as she started producing that beautiful tune, I completely forgot why was I even going after her in the first place: her melody was stress-relieving, relaxing even, and I felt like I could listen to it all days of the week. I did not even realize she had finished at first, I was still listening to that song in my head "So? Did you like it?" she asked, ecstatic.

"Of course I did." I answered, trying to reclaim my calm and composure "That was...beautiful. You never mentioned playing the violin, Frisk."

"Oh, of course I do! I also play the guitar...and the flute, the cello, the viola, the trombone, the trumpet, the bass, the drums..." the list went on and on, seemingly without end: could she really play all those instruments, most of which I had never heard before? What kind of human could even learn this much information at her age? "...Oh, now that I think about it I never learned how to play the triangle..." she finished, slightly embarrassed.

* **Go figure...** * I heard my sibling comment.

"Can I keep it? Please?" Frisk begged me to buy that instrument for her.

"Frisk, I do not have any money with me! How do you expect me to-"

"Hold your horses, sonny!" the shopkeeper interrupted our conversation "Don't worry 'bout yer money, ol' Gerson's got ya covered! 'S all free, on the house! Heck, I'll even give ya a phone so ya don't have ta bring that heavy thing with you!" the monster said as he gave me a small device and taught me how to use it "Just open that nifty application and ya can store that violin inside this little thing! Ya can even store other things, if ya want!" and he was going to gift us both those things? Was it my lucky day or was that guy deceiving me? From the looks of it, he was not...but you never know, so, while Frisk put her violin inside that little thing just like the monster taught us to, I double-checked just to be sure "Are you sure you want to depart with these gadgets forever? Are you fine with not getting any payment at all?"

"Oh, I'll get paid just fine!" he whispered in my ear "...But not necessarily by you: ya see, yer father comes to this shop very often, so...besides, I bet two or three coins more than usual wouldn't even bother him that much..." my father...was he really going to force my father to repay my own debts? More importantly, did that monster find out my true identity? I knew I should not have revealed my real name to him...

I was about to ask him not to tell anyone, but he signed me that he was not going to speak of this to anyone, so I decided not to: I could risk Frisk hearing me due to my sudden stress and tiredness...

So, to sum it all up: it would have probably been better to stay away from that shop altogether...but at least we did not leave it empty-handed: we now had a phone, even though I was not sure what good could it do us, a violin, which was even more useless than the phone but could still come in handy at times for stress relief and such, and a clue as to how to become rich. Great...sort of. First things first, we decided to search for that shop Gerson had mentioned...


	20. Hoi!

As stated earlier, we began moving towards the place that Gerson had suggested us to visit: after a few more puzzles and battles against unsettled monsters, we finally reached what appeared to be a gigantic hole in the cavern's wall. The cavity looked much bigger and wider than the one which led to the turtle monster's emporium, but what made me most curious was the weird sign placed right next to the entrance: I could not understand a single word written on it...or were those drawings?

"Frisk, would you mind translating this sign for us both?" I inquired kindly.

She approached the sign and tried to decode it, but it seemed too difficult even for her "What in the world is this...font? These letters are so badly written I can't even tell if they're capitalized or not!" she eventually gave up trying to make sense out of the words, much to my chagrin.

"That's a shame: I wished to know where exactly we were heading towards..." we were risking getting ambushed once again: it was imperative that I kept my guard up at all times. There was no telling what horrors that corridor could have led to...

As we slowly but steadily walked down the rocky hallway, a weird sensation took my mind by storm: a weird feeling of going somewhere that would have had a great impact on my mental sanity. When we ultimately turned around a corner at the end of said hallway, what stood before my eyes made me realize just how horribly right I was: a bunch of little white creatures that looked like monsters were playing around or sitting idly, speaking what looked like the most broken English I ever heard in my entire life. They were all small, tiny even, around the size of a common pet cat and they all pretty much looked the same: white fur, long black hair and huge black eyes... they all wore what seemed to be the same exact blue shirt,

I decided, against my better judgment who implored me to run away as fast as I could, to speak to one of those little critters in hopes of finding that shop Gerson had talked about "Excuse me, little one?" the monster turned towards me "Yes, hello."

"Hoi! I'm Temmie!" she answered in return, almost automatically.

"Well hello little Temmie-"

"Hoi! I'm Temmie!" she repeated her name once again, without me asking her to.

"I-I already know your name is Temmie..." I tried to maintain what little calm I had left

"Hey little one! My name's Frisk!" the human presented herself.

"Hoi! I'm Temmie!" she replied...once...again...my God I so wanted to kill somebody right there...

"Okay, that is enough: I heard there is a shop nearby, where is it?" I inquired as hastily and impolitely as possible, so close to tearing to shreds that little impertinent idiot...

"Yaya, Tem Shop! Greit dealz at Tem Shop, Tem recomendz!" she answered, seemingly grateful that I asked her that question specifically "Tem Shop is ovar therz!" she pointed at yet another crack in the wall with two signs right in front of it, which I obviously was not going to bother trying to decipher; I ran towards that crack as soon as I spotted it, forcing Frisk to come with me before she could say another word. As we ran, I noticed all the other critters called themselves by that name and that name alone: were they all named the same? Or was that simply the name of their...species? I could not tell anymore, so I decided to stop caring.

Before we entered the cavity, I noticed a gigantic painting attached to the wall right in front of the shop: it depicted what looked like a long, sinuous dragon and... one of those little creatures, standing right next to it. A sign under the painting, this one thankfully legible, explained the purpose of the illustration "Rich history of Tem."

"You know Asriel..." Frisk said as she stared at the artwork "When I look at that canvas, I am filled with... _detemmienation_." not only did she say that word again...but she made a pun out of it: from that moment onward, I was officially done.

* **Remind me once again how the Hell do you cope with her.** * my sibling asked me.

*I honestly do not have an answer, nor do I wish to find one.* I replied, not knowing that to say anymore: anything I said could make me lose control definitely, and I did not want Chara to abuse my emotional weaknesses...specifically in that moment.

Spending one more second in that forsaken place would have been devastating, so I chose to enter the shop posthaste. The place looked far more...shop-like than Gerson's emporium, but they both had one thing in common: they both sold worthless junk. I could not think of a single use for any of the items on the shelves apart from mere decoration, and even then that would be a poor decorating choice. The owner of the shop, at least from what I could tell, was another one of those little creatures who, unlike it's similar, wore a blue and yellow striped shirt. The monster sat behind...a miserable cardboard box with the word "Tem Shop" horribly written on it. Why was I even there, I wondered?

"Hoi! Welcome tu...the Tem Shop!" the creature greeted us.

"Greetings." I tried to sound polite and regain some semblance of calm.  
"Hoi! I'm Temmie!" she greeted me in return, just like the other Temmie did. I grabbed my head with my paws and desperately tried to keep it together as I let Frisk handle that already intolerable critter "Your name's Temmie? That's the same name as those other monsters roaming the cave..."

"Yaya! Those r my sis: Tem, Tem, Tem, Bob, Tem, Tem, Tem..." I chuckled when I heard one of them was named differently, but that did not help too much: the list of identical names seemed to go on forever...

"Okay! I get it! No need to name them all." the human miraculously managed to simultaneously stop the vendor and gave me those few seconds of break I needed to restore my sanity: you cannot comprehend how grateful for that intervention I was. Thanks to her, I could finally return to my conversation with that odd shopkeeper "Now that that's over, we should get down to business: we came here to talk about this." I showed her a sample of the dog residue I still held in my pocket.

"U have dog residu!" at first Temmie was excited, but then started sweating and shaking scaredly "Hnnn...I gotta have dat dog residu...but Tem haz tu pay for colleg tu!" what was she talking about?

"Hey, Asriel, look!" Frisk pointed at a paper attached to the side of the cardboard box: the phrase "Pay fur cool leg, 1000 Gold" was written in huge letters on it, without a clear explanation as to what it meant.

"Why would I ever want to pay for someone else's education?" I asked my companion, who was way more excited than I was.

"What if it's, like, a secret codeword? Maybe she will give us a prize or something if we pay for that!" I pondered what sort of logic did she follow to arrive to that senseless conclusion, but considering how easily she was handling the lack of sense around her perhaps I should have considered her opinion.

"Tem wil pay for Gold for ur dog residu." the critter announced as she showed us some shiny gold coins. Was I dreaming? Was she actually paying us for something as stupid as dog poop? Something that we could keep creating over and over again, possibly forever? If she payed for every single thing we sold her, we would have gotten rich in mere minutes!

In fact, it only took us five to ten minutes to gather the astounding amount of a thousand gold coins, which are not a lot for a royal like me but are a lot for a commoner such as...pretty much everyone we had met in our journey so far. I remembered of the strange paper as soon as we hit the four-digit number and asked the shopkeeper what did she mean with "Pay for college."

"Woah! That's alot of munz! Can Tem rily accept?" she asked, unconvinced.

"Wait, what? I never said I would-"

"Asriel..." Frisk interrupted me "She already grabbed the money." what in the world, I thought? I checked my pockets, where I had stored all the money we had accumulated: they had been completely emptied in mere nanoseconds.

"Ok! Tem go to colleg and make u prouds!" defying all laws of nature I had learned in my life, her face...literally flew away from it's face. I know it sounds weird and absurdly complicated, but...her eyes, her nose and her mouth just...flew away from her body. They returned shortly after, bringing with them a strange black hat that could float as well; all her face parts returned to their original position shortly after as their owner claimed "Tem back from cool leg!"

* **Kill me...** * for once, I agreed with my sibling: if I were to die right there, I would not have minded too much.

"Are you...are you already back from college?" I asked, my patience almost dry "But you have been away for...three seconds, at maximum."

"Tem learnd many thins in colleg!" she replied, still cheerful "Tem is nao rily smartz!" I sincerely doubted she was, but...whatever.

"You know what I just realized?" Frisk pointed out "What we just used to pay her education...was her money all along, was it? We basically gave her her own money back in exchange for nothing!" so we went through the trouble of giving her all that dog residue...for nothing? And not only that, she had the money to pay for her college all along?

"You are completely insane!" I shouted at her "You made us all go through all that trouble for...nothing! Why make us pay for your education with your own money? That makes no sense!" surprising even Chara themselves, the critter replied, in a perfect English "Joke's on you buddy: now I have a degree _and_ a life supply of dog residue."

* **Wow, that sounds like a decent, smart plan! You've been outsmarted once again! How does it feel to have been used?** * I already felt rather tired even without Chara doing their thing, you can imagine how spent I felt in that moment.

"Still, why would you ever want to stock on...dog poop?" Frisk asked, still curious.

The monster pointed at what looked like a box of cereals with her face painted on it and a few illegible words written here and there without proper order or sense "Becuz dog residu is basik ingredient fur...Tem Flakes!" she explained in her usual almost incomprehensible dialect...wait, did she just say what I think she just said, I thought? I almost puked at the thought of putting literal crap in your food...and Frisk seemed to agree with me, as she struggled not to vomit as well.

"Well, Tem no nid tu care for Tem Shop anymur. Tem tu smartz fur that." she said as jumped over her cardboard box and stared at us almost...supplicant "Tem wants tu go adventurz...can Tem join u?" what the actual...crap was going on anymore? Why the Hell did she want to come with us?

"Oh Hell no! You are not coming with us! I refuse to bring you with-"

"Asriel..." Frisk asked me to turn towards her: as soon as I looked at her, I realized the critter had already found a comfortable spot to lay on just above the human's head "Hooman is...so comfy! N cute!" well, at least we shared similar views regarding the little girl...wait, was I really agreeing with that little pest?

"No! I will not allow you to come with us! I would much rather die than bring you along!" I wanted to desperately to shoot that little thing off of Frisk's head...but I feared to hurt the human herself, so I decided to let it pass...for now, at least "Fine! But if you ever make me lose my composure again like you did just now, I will blast you off personally!"

"Yay! Adventure Tem!" the monster yelled excited to finally depart from her shop...I wondered if that was her intention all along. It probably was, now that I think of it...I learned over the course of time that Temmie always has a bigger scheme in her mind, one that you will never even come close to imagine. It was a shame I did not understand that back then: it would have made me realize so many things I only comprehend now...

As we left the cavern as fast as we possibly could, vowing never to return to that disgusting place ever again in our lives, I noticed that my pockets had become even lighter than before: the bag and the few samples of dog residue we had left had disappeared, and I did not recall ever dropping them. However, I did find something else: another piece of paper, still signed by this "Observer".

"You have done just what you needed to do. I doubt you will ever need this bag again, so I will do you the favor of disposing of it. Besides...it was simply too broken: an item that can provide you with infinite money means cheating, and we all hate dirty hackers, don't we?" I wondered how could this Observer steal those items away from me without me realizing it...well, perhaps he did me a favor: I was sick of storing those filthy bags inside my clean pockets.

* * *

 _ **Some time before...**_

* * *

"This better be the place..." I sighed as I entered the small opening in the rock: the skeleton now wanted me to check a shop, of all places, since the girl was very likely to pass through there, one way or another.

"You just need to warn the owner of the plant and go away, nothing simpler really." Sans reminded me for the umpteenth time what I had to do; meanwhile, the annoying laughs and chats of the white-furred creatures were bombarding my ears, making me lose at least a few IQ points in the process.

"Hoi! I'm Temmie!" I was greeted by another one of those little creatures, who looked perhaps even dumber than the rest.

"I would've never guessed...my name's Dante by the way." I answered, unimpressed.

"Yaya, greit tu meet u Donti!" did she actually manage to misspell my name? Like that? Alice would've been proud, I bet.

"My name is Da- nah, you know what, forget it." I was already done with that stupid place and it's even stupider inhabitants "Look, have you seen an idiotic, annoying golden flower with murderous habits who talks shit about everyone and everything?" I asked, already knowing she would've said no.

"Noi! Tem no see flour anywherz." go figure...

"Well, if you see him, attack him on sight. As much as it pains me to say it, he is not only a huge prick, but a very dangerous individual too. You better watch out for him, if you hold your life dear."

" **I agree with the snobby, asocial retard!** " I managed to avoid the swarm of pellets incoming from behind solely thanks to the flower's huge ego: the critter managed to avoid the attack as well somehow, but I was more interested in my actual opponent.

" **You have something that belongs to me, you little piece of shit!** " the flower yelled at me as he launched more projectiles at me, which I blocked with my shield fairly easily: I had yet to launch a counter-attack when I heard the little monster intervene "No fite-ing in da Tem Shop!" yeah, like that was going to work...

" **Oh, no! I'm totally going to follow your stupid rules and fight somewhere else!** " the flower made fun of the Temmie " **Look kid, I'm not here for you specifically, but if you keep interfering I will include you in my list of people to kill!** " to prove his point, the flower shot a whole barrage of pellets at the monster...but, before I could protect her with my shield, all the projectiles disappeared mid-air without an apparent reason " **Wait, what?** "

"I told you: fighting in here is forbidden." I actually felt a chill crawling up my spine when I heard her say those words like...that: I never expected her to start speaking so creepily, and moreover so correctly "Prepare to get kicked out."

* * *

After that, the screen turned black for...I don't know, a few minutes? The fact is, when I finally regained video feed, the human was right outside caver, his back turned towards the Temmie Village "Hey, what happened?" I asked, afraid the flower did something to the Temmies.

"The flower's still alive...somehow." he answered, with a calm that seemed too unnatural to be true "Remind me never to mess with that annoying furball, never." a bit ominous, especially considering I did not see a thing or heard anything after Temmie got mad...however, Dante didn't seem in the right mood to talk about what he had witnessed, so I opted to remain silent about it for the time being "Whatever man, I'm fine knowing the flower didn't hurt anyone..." especially now that I was not sure if Frisk could even reset anymore.


	21. Waterfall (Part 5)

_There are many kinds of illusions in this world, but the worst one is control: the fantasy of knowing exactly what will happen and how it'll happen...truly the worst kind of delusion that exists._

 _We were growing desperate, hopeless, clueless...nobody liked living underground, we wanted to return to the Surface; if it weren't for my father, doctor Gaster, most of the Underground's denizens would've killed themselves. With him, there was still hope...even though it was slim._

 _One day, he came to me ecstatic like I never saw him before: he told me about the past, the future...how he wanted to make a machine that would allow us control over space and time. How we could've made sure the war never even happened._

 _I told him it would've been downright impossible to create such a device...and that I was going to help him nonetheless. After all, there weren't any other alternatives, right?_

 _Day after day, week after week, month after month...failure after failure. We were so close and yet so distant from the truth. What were we missing, we always wondered? I don't remember how long it took us to figure it out, but eventually we did just that._

 _We always thought there was only one timeline, one set course of events...but we were wrong: there were many timelines, all of them just as real as the one we were in, where history took a different path one way or another...we still didn't know how to travel back in time, but perhaps we didn't need to in the first place. What if we could find out how to break the barrier before it even happened?_

 _So we spent our energy and resources into creating a device that would allow us to communicate with other such devices present in other timelines. As soon as we activated it, we were flooded with notes that told us about the future. All of them were signed...by me._

 _Not all of them were the same, but they all had some points in common: a human would've eventually fallen down, they would've been adopted by the royals, they would've died in mysterious circumstances, their Soul would've been absorbed by the King's son...and then they would die again, by the hands of the humans on the Surface. Six other humans would've fallen down afterwards, and their Souls would've been harvested by the King...until one last human falls Underground. After that, all the notes say something different._

 _In one of them, the human saves us all. In most of them, the human leaves alone, the King and some other monsters die and someone becomes the new King of the Underground...but we're still stuck down here. In one of them...we all die. The human kills us all...and I'm the only one left to stop them. After that, nothing: the note ends there._

 _My dad made me promise never to interfere with the events that were supposed to happen, as doing so could've destroyed the timeline itself...and so I did. Even after he disappeared mysteriously, I did the best I could to make sure everything went according to plan. But when I heard that the prince had survived it's visit to the Surface, well..._

 _I knew something was up...and I still did nothing._

* **This is getting ridiculous.** * Chara told me for the umpteenth time.

It had been a while since we left that crazed village and Temmie was still sleeping atop Frisk's head. I should have been grateful she was not wasting my time with her stupidity, but I did not expect her to be _this_ useless. Still, the human was not complaining.

"It's like having a pillow above your head!" she explained "You should try it!"

"Absolutely not." I replied, not interested at all "How can you consider her a pillow? Is she not heavy?"  
"Nope." apparently I was mistaken "She also vibrates from time to time too. It feels so good when she does!" that convinced me never to let that small monster anywhere near me. It also made my sibling even more uncomfortable...and unbearable.

We eventually entered another poorly-lit room, much to my chagrin. I came to dislike the dark after our last encounter with Undyne, but there was nothing I could do but traverse it nonetheless.

Something shined on the other side of the room: an echo flower, the only source of light I could see. I thought it was a good idea to approach it and hear whatever it had to say: it might have held useful information for us...or utter rubbish, but that would not have hurt us too much.

We made our way towards the flower and...well, I did not like what it had to say in the least "Behind you..." I turned around just as the room turned bright all of a sudden: the armored knight who had been following us all this time stood there, blocking our way...and this time we had nowhere left to run.

* **This is our chance to get rid of her! Quick, give me control! I can protect us...you know it's the only way!** * even though I did not want Them to hurt Frisk, I had to admit: there were not many other alternatives. I would have had to fight Undyne from the looks of it...and my sibling was a much better fighter than I.

As I was about to allow Chara to gain control, a miracle (or something very close to one) happened: the monster kid from before appeared from behind Undyne and stood between us and her "Yo! Are you guys having a party? Can I join?" he asked, visibly excited. The captain of the Royal Guard did not seem to like his attitude as she grabbed him by his rather large head and dragged him away from us "Yo! Undyne just...touched me! I won't shower ever again after this!" the two subsequently left. And Temmie slept through all that, too.

"Let's get out of here before she returns." the human advised as she found a secret passage hidden behind some bushes.

"I agree." I simply replied as we left the room.

"Well, that just happened." I commented the way that guard, Undyne, left the room.

"I don't think that's _exactly_ how it was supposed to happen..." the skeleton explained "But hey, at least the human's safe, right?" even though I wanted the girl to stay alive too, I wasn't as preoccupied as Sans was. In fact, I was very close to not giving a damn at all.

I blinked a few rooms away before dumb and dumber could reach me and scouted the room ahead of them: just a long bridge...nothing too fancy about it. I was almost about to leave when the skeleton warned me "Watch out!" I barely made it in time to dodge a pellet incoming in my direction "What the...where is it?" I looked all around me, but there was no trace of the damn flower. More pellets kept coming from my sides, from behind... I just couldn't pinpoint the exact point they came from.

I blinked to the center of the bridge to have a better angle and scouted the area, trying to find that little pest, when my companion finally proved himself useful "I found it: it's standing on a platform fifty feet or so away from you, on your left!" when I turn around, my opponent is exactly where Sans said he was: great job, for once.

"You sure you can make it all the way there?" he asks me, unsure.

"Only one way to find out." I answer as I concentrate all my energy to teleport all the way across the room, avoiding the deep abyss down below. The platform where I just landed was one of many, somehow suspended above said ravine: if I fell down there and somehow my blink didn't work, well...I was done for, for sure.

" **Well, well, well...look who came to join the fun!** " the flower greeted me with its fake, far too childish smile " **What's wrong, buddy? Are you scared?** " scared of what? Of him? Never.

"The only thing that's scary is your fucking face." I reply "Seriously, go find a plastic surgeon and get that fucking smile fixed: it's creepy."

" **Oh, come on, "Dante"!** " I don't like the way he said my name " **This body doesn't have any other cool characteristic apart from that! I might as well take advantage of it until I get rid of it...** " get rid...of what, of his body?

"Get rid of it? You mean you're going to suicide?" I ask, ironic "Seems like you finally get it, at least: death is the only thing fitting for a little shit such as you." he doesn't seem to like my comment " **I'm not going to suicide, you idiot! You know what? Let's get to the point.** " he says as two huge flowers similar to the ones he used last time emerge from the ground next to him " **You still have something that belongs to me!** "

[Persona 3 Reincarnation – Unavoidable Battle (I cannot post the link right now, go find it yourself)]

Before the big flowers could shoot me, I blinked upwards and dealt with them by shooting them with my own gun, then pointed it at my opponent...except he had already moved. I nearly got hit by some other pellets that came from the right: apparently the flower had repositioned to a nearby platform and was shooting at me from other there...he certainly had improved in speed.

Still, I didn't need to be there to counterattack: I pulled out my gun once again and began shooting at him from afar, missing him barely simply because he stretched his tiny body to dodge the bullets...for a flower, he was quite elastic. I didn't give up though and eventually one bullet hit him, though it didn't cause as much damage as I hoped it did " **Ouch! That one hurt, you little...** " he dove into the ground once more, making me lose track of his position.

"Come on, has nobody ever told you hide and seek is a dumb game?" I shouted, trying to make him show himself accidentally "I ain't got all day, so if you could just die you would be making me a huge favor..."

I heard more projectiles incoming from all directions: the flowery bitch had the smart idea of attacking from multiple positions...but I was prepared. I jumped as high as I could and shot down all the flowers I could see...but I have to admit, I almost didn't see the huge barrage of pellets that was coming my way. That stupid sneaky bastard...I didn't even need to shield myself from them: I simply blinked back to the ground. If that's all he could do, that battle was going to be even easier than expected.

"I found him: eleven o'clock, twenty meters away." Sans advised me of where to strike: I shot a few rounds over there without looking, to confuse my opponent, and surprisingly enough he got hit by all of them.

" **Why can't you simply die?** " he yelled at me from afar.

"I could ask you the same thing." I replied as I kept shooting in his direction.

The flower disappeared into the ground once again and reappeared behind me: before I could shoot him, he somehow erected a wall of vines between us. He probably thought he could hide behind it or something.

"Nice trick." I said as I blinked behind him and shot a few bullets at him "But that ain't going to cut it." the flower didn't like my answer one bit and suddenly burst out in rage, summoning more and more pellets around him that made him impossible to hit. Had to blink away to avoid getting pierced like a dummy.

The bullets were then shot at me and I had to summon my shield to block them: it was raining hell down there, and it didn't look like the battle was going to end any time soon.

After navigating through a few more rooms, we ended up exiting that water-filled maze entirely: we were now in a huge cave, a long suspended bridge connecting the two corners of the room. As we started walking down the bridge, I heard someone approaching us from behind: turns out it was that monster kid again "Yo!" he greeted us...much less excited than usual.

"Hello." I greeted him "You seem a bit shaken. Is something troubling you?" I asked him politely.

"Well..." he looked away "I just...had a talk with Undyne. She said you are...bad people. Like, totally bad. And that I must stay miles away from you..." why would she think that? We never did anything to upset her...did we?

"No way!" Frisk expressed my thoughts aloud "We didn't do anything wrong! You know us: we are good people! She's the one who kept attacking us over and over again! We almost died because of her!" even though the captain of the Royal Guard must have had her own motives to pursue us, I have to admit: attacking us so senselessly was very rude and uncalled of from her.

"Yeah, I know right?" he laughed off his insecurity "I tried to explain her you were nice with me, but...she didn't listen. So..."

"If she wants a fight, I will give her a fight." I answered, confident "No more running, no more fooling around: if she attempts to harm Frisk once more...I will make her pay for it." the human did not like my aggressive stance, but I felt like I needed to be so direct: if I did not handle the matter personally, I risked Chara taking over in the middle of the fight and make a huge mess against my will.

"Yo, I would so like to watch you two fight!" his smile vanished soon afterwards "But, you know...my parents will kill me if I don't return home soon, so..."

"We will be careful." I promised him "Now go home, please." I shooed him away. Once again, before disappearing from our sight, he tripped and fell to the ground...I was beginning to think those falls were not random at all.

"Hey goat-bro..." the human pointed her index finger in the distance "Something...something's happening over there."

" **You're making this harder than it's supposed to be! Stop moving and let me get back what is mine!** " the flower yelled for the umpteenth time.

"Why are you so interested in my Soul? It's not even yours." I replied with what little breath I had left.

That battle lasted far more than the previous ones: needless to say, I wasn't expecting the flowery bitch to be so resilient...I was slowly losing all my energies. If he kept absorbing my attacks every time I hit him, well...

"Don't give up! Stay determined and you'll win for sure." Sans incited me from my headphones.

"Yeah, this ain't a videogame buddy: that's not how it works." I replied as I dodged another one of the flower's seemingly endless barrages of small white pellets.

" **That Soul, and the girl's one, are MINE! And I want them back!** " who the Hell did that idiot think he was? Either he was trying to scare me, which wasn't working one bit by the way, or he was being serious and he was a bigger idiot than I could've imagined.

Still, he wasn't giving up...and I was on the verge of doing just that.

"I'm pulling out." I warned Sans as I prepared myself to evacuate the area.

"What? You can't be serious! What about the flower?" his voice seemed to crack, like he was scared.

" **Oh, you aren't getting away mister!** " the flower shouted as more of those damn flowers emerged from the ground all around me: I was surrounded and there was no way left to run. *I need to run* I thought, but...I couldn't. My blink wasn't working. Perfect fucking timing. Maybe it wasn't working because I was too tired but one thing was for sure: if I didn't do something, I would've died right there.

" **What's that? No cheesy comment? No cliché one-liner? Man, you must be really scared, huh?** " I was pissed I was going to die, sure, but I was even more pissed I was going to die by that fucking flower's hand " **Well, it's been fun while it lasted "Dante". Or maybe I should c-** " suddenly, the flowers around me died without me doing anything: I turned to the flower, which had apparently been hit by a fireball or something as he was burning alive " **Hot hot hot! Way too hot! Damn you all...I'll be back!** " it disappeared into the ground before I could do anything to stop him. Not like I could've done anything, really.

I looked around and saw two figures watching me from the bridge: it didn't take me too long to realize those two idiots were the girl and her goat-bro...

"Thank you!" the human shouted from afar.

"No worries!" I replied just as loudly "Do you need help?"

"Nah, I just need to rest for a bit!" he explained "My blink seems to be malfunctioning, it might take a while...don't wait for me, keep going forward!" well, at least he was being explicit about it. I left the human to his problems, feeling a bit better about myself. I still could not believe the story of the flower was real, but...I guess it did not make that much of a difference, really. After all, I had been acting as if it were true from the moment I heard it.

"What was that flower?" Frisk asked me, confused.

"No-one important, my dear...please forget about it." I doubted letting the human know a murderous plant was after her very Soul would have made her happier or even calmer.

"Gote-bro did rily nice thin. Tem is rily prouds!" apparently the critter atop the human's head had awoken from her slumber.

"Well look who just woke up...were you not supposed to go on an adventure? Because you have been sleeping all this time." I tried to get rid of my frustration by being mean.

"Tem go greit adventurz while sleepin." she answered innocently enough, probably referring to dreams.

* **I'm going to sleep, wake me up once this idiot leaves this already big enough group...** " Chara joked. I wish I could do that too, but one of us needed to control our body after all...and I very much preferred if I was the one doing it.

After a while, we reached some sort of small mountain: if I remembered correctly, the tunnel at its base would have led us to Hotland...and, possibly, very far away from that psychopathic Royal Guard...

"Stop right there!" the powerful voice of a not-so-feminine woman shouted from above; I turned my head upwards only to find out our stalker had been waiting for us atop the mountain all this time. I did not know why was she so determined to defeat us, but...I was not going to let her.

I told Frisk to stand back, that I would have taken care of it...and, believe me or not, I was going to do just that.

No more running away. No more delaying. It was just me and her...and if only one of us were to walk away from that place intact, so be it.


	22. Waterfall (Part 6): Undyne

" _You have become quite powerful, Asriel!" my father complimented me as he blocked yet another one of my attacks; despite the power I had acquired thanks to Chara, I was still no match for him._

" _Thank you, father..." I replied shyly as I attacked him once more, failing yet again; fighting my father had become... troublesome for me ever since returning from the Surface. The happiness and excitement I felt as a child had been replaced by fear...the fear of hurting him on accident...or, even worse, on purpose._

" _Asriel, is something wrong?" he asked me, worried. I never dared to tell him how I felt, I did not want to stop that weekly ritual that somehow managed to bring us closer together...but I knew I would have had to tell him one day. "Come on, do not be afraid! Do your worst!" he spurred me to attack him, a benign smile on his face._

" _ **If you so insist...** " I suddenly realized I could not feel or move my limbs anymore, but that they still moved nonetheless, without me ordering them to: yet again, my sibling had snatched away my body taking advantage of my frustration and my conflicting feelings. They summoned bigger, darker flames and shot them at my father, who was not capable of blocking them and was sent flying backwards, barely able to land on his feet._

" _Chara, is that you?" he inquired, his injuries cracking his voice a bit "You know the rules: no real spells allowed! You really hurt me this time..."_

" _ **Oh, come on dad! I wasn't even trying this time!** " They chuckled as They wondered aloud " **Hmm...I wonder what would happen if I used all of our power...** " I felt an incredible power building up inside me, the power of a spell much stronger than any I had ever cast before: if Chara hit father with that... father could have..._

" _Chara, stop!" my father shouted "You could hurt someone with that! I am not as strong as I look!"_

" _ **You don't understand...** " They whispered " **No-one ever will...whatever.** " They summoned a ball of fire bigger and stronger than any my father had ever cast and directed it at him " **I need to become strong...for you.** "_

" _NO!" I yelled as I instantly regained control of my body, stopping Chara before They could do anything They could have regretted; I fell to the ground as my eyes started watering, afraid of what I had become...of what I let my sibling become "Why...why...why..."_

 _The warm embrace of my father could not stop my tears, but it certainly helped reduce them; he asked me, confused "Do you know why They did that?"_

" _No..." I replied, just as clueless as he was "But controlling them is getting more and more difficult each time. Stopping Them this time was a true miracle...but I do not know if I will be able to do it next time as well."_

" _I am sure you will, my son." he reassured me as he patted me kindly on the head "You are strong, both in body and spirit. We can stop training, if you want, but you must never stop hoping: your sibling is scared, that much I can tell, but I have faith you will be able to help Them... somehow." I tried to talk to Chara, but They went silent and refused to converse with me. Despite the circumstances, I was more alone than ever...and nobody could understand my pain to the fullest._

* * *

"And so we're here...this time, you WON'T escape me!" Undyne yelled, her voice much louder than it needed to be; even though my sibling desperately wanted me to strike her, I tried to reason with her "Why are you attacking us? What is your business with us?"

"What's my business with you? What's YOUR business with US!" she replied nonsensically "I know all about you! I know you're thieves and bandits of the worst kind and that you've been doing all sorts of bad things in Snowdin! But that ends here! I won't let you get to Hotland!" she summoned her spear, ready to fight.

"Whoever told you that is a stinky liar! We never did any of that! Ask Snowdin's denizens, they know the truth!" Frisk tried to make her understand, in vain "Hah! As if I would ever listen to a human... after all, it was your kind who sealed us down here! You are all evil to me..." the monster was being far too ignorant and stubborn...I did not like where that conversation was going."  
"Clearly you do not know about the human who fell down here a long time ago." I said angrily "They were not very nice, that is true..." Chara ironically thanked me for the compliment, but I did not mind Them at all "But They cared for their family...and their family cared for them."

"You're just trying to use that story to make me lower my guard, aren't you?" she yelled, unconvinced "Besides, it's thanks to that very human the Prince left us...stop trying to convince me and fight, you criminal!"

"No! We don't want to fight! Why can't we just-" I hugged Frisk and told her to stop "I appreciate your concern, but...I have to fight. She will not listen to the voice of reason until I beat her, you know that as well." she tried to make me reconsider, but I had already decided; I entrusted Temmie to her care and walked towards the battlefield, ready to face my opponent "It is clear you will not listen to us...fine by me, but please, do not say I did not warn you after I pound you to the ground!"

"Pound me into the ground? Ha! You'll regret the day you crossed path with me, punk!" the Royal Guard took off her helmet and threw it away, revealing her face: her skin was as blue as the sea, her face similar to that of a fish... she wore an eyepatch on her left eye, but what unsettled me the most was her mouth, which was extremely wide and was full of sharp teeth.

* **We will teach her a lesson she won't ever forget.** * Chara said, reveling in anticipation * **Just this once, I'm with you one-hundred-percent...as long as you let me use my power, of course.** *

*Fine, I will let you help me...if you promise me you will not kill her.* I bargained with Them.

* **I'll try, but I can't promise anything.** * I could already see myself struggling to keep Them from killing that idiotic fish-lady...but there was no other choice, really. I needed all the power I had if I wanted to win.

I moved far away from Frisk and Temmie, hoping this would have prevented Undyne from targeting them, but my opponent attacked me before I could: she summoned a fair number of azure spears and shot them at me with precise accuracy; before they could hit me, however, I shot down every single one of those lances with my fireballs, simultaneously moving away from my companions and closer to the Royal Guard.

She tried to take advantage of this opportunity by stabbing me with another one of her spears from melee range, but I was once again faster than her: I summoned my flaming scythe and slashed her with it, sending her flying backwards. She should have been grateful that my weapon was made of magic, as a real weapon would have probably reduced her to ash in a single hit.

Now knowing that direct combat was not advisable, she tried to attack me from the distance once again, failing for the second time: this time I summoned many, many more fireballs that both destroyed her lances completely and also hit her for a consistent amount of damage. The outcome of the battle was currently in my favor, but I was already slightly tired due to the amount of fireballs I had cast.

"NGAAAH!" the Royal Guard yelled angrily "Why am I not WINNING? You should've surrendered by now!"

"Unfortunately for you, you are far weaker than us." we answered, our thoughts merging together "I am not sorry to say that this is a battle you are not going to win."

"Hah! As if! I am a HERO! And a hero NEVER loses!" she shrugged off my remark as she mustered the courage and the strength to keep going.

Instead of shooting more spears at me, the fish-lady used another attack that took me completely off-guard: the spears were now emerging from the ground all around me and disappearing soon afterwards, an attack she used some time before and that I somewhat remembered how to dodge. Avoiding spears coming from below proved much more difficult than avoiding those coming from the front...though I should have realized it sooner that was only a distraction: I recognized the noise of a spear flying at me from behind far too late for me to do anything about it. Before I could get hit, however, something small but powerful hit me on my left shoulder, making me lose balance but saving me from the incoming projectile.

I immediately got up to defend myself against this unknown assailant, but when I saw who it was I was left dumbfounded "Y-You? What are you doing here?"

The Temmie was dancing on the floor next to me, contented by the success of her plan "Gud job! Tem saved gote-bro!" I asked her why was she not with Frisk, to which she responded "Tem wuz boared. Tem join fite insted!" I did not know if to let her help me, as I now was (believe me or not) concerned for her well-being, but Chara convinced me to let her join * **At least she'll prove invaluable...as a meat shield.** * I was not happy with that explanation, but I had to admit we could have used her as a decoy of sorts.

"Hey, YOU!" Undyne yelled at the critter "Why are you with these CRIMINALS?"

"Gote-bro and hooman frends of Tem! Frends let Temmie go greit adventurz with them!" she answered, still joyous despite the circumstances.

"These people are EVIL! Are you STUPID or something?" whatever she said, it greatly unsettled the small monster: I saw her pupils dilate and her voice tone become much more serious "Why, I'll have you know I now have a degree, Undyne: your argument is invalid. Besides...nobody makes fun of temmies. Never." she then pointed her right paw to the ceiling and yelled "Hoooooiiiii!" her words echoed in the cavern much more than they should have, of that I was sure.

At first I thought that did nothing, but I was mistaken: a horde of Temmies appeared out of nowhere from a hole in the ceiling and crashed on the unsuspecting Royal Guard, who drowned below that massive onslaught of cute, cuddly monsters. After ungracefully landing on top of Undyne, the temmies ran towards the entrance of the room, presumably returning to their village...and saluting their friend while they were at it.

* **Just when you think you've seen it all...madness ensues. I hate my life.** * I thought it would have been funny to reply "but you are not alive", but I did not for fear of repercussions. Still, whatever Temmie did surely helped: Undyne was desperately trying to catch her breath, far too stoic too admit defeat.

"Good job, Temmie." I congratulated her "One more attack like that and-"

"Tem is tired." she stopped me as she fell on the floor "Tem go tu sleepz." to be honest, I was not surprised that would have happened. Leaving her sleeping on the battlefield was not a good choice, however, so I grabbed her by the neck and threw all the way across the room, towards the human, who caught it in mid-air while saying, for some odd reason "Touchdown!"

"That...was nothing..." the captain of the Royal Guard muttered between a puff of breath and another "I can...still fight..." she was not going to give up any time soon, I feared.

"Fine." I said as I prepared to unleash a more devastating blow "Prepare yourself then."

* * *

"Thanks for bringing the popcorn." I legitimately thanked my skeletal companion for his kind gesture. I did not think he would have accepted my suggestion, but I was not surprised he did either.

"Thanks for inviting me to the show." he replied as he drank half of the ketchup he brought with him "But was it really necessary to invite the kid as well?" he pointed to the small lizard-like monster kid who was watching the match alongside us, fully immersed in it.

"He looked kinda down when I met him, so I offered him a back-row seat to the duel of his dreams." I answered, a bit content knowing I had done a good thing for once.

Despite being somewhat far away from the match, we could still see and hear it perfectly; the kid was having the time of his life and did not know who to support, but both me and the skeleton knew who had to win "If the goat can't beat her-"

"He will beat her." I replied, completely sure "Surprised she isn't down yet, but still-" I stopped upon noticing the goat had summoned a huge flame and launched it towards Undyne, hitting her and dealing massive damage. "See? He's got it covered." I commented as Sans finally stopped worrying.

* * *

The battle had gone on for far too long, and yet my opponent still stood valiantly, unafraid of me or my power. Even though I had hit her with some of my most powerful attacks, she was determined to not give up, to not let me win.

Even worse, she was still acting as though she was going to win, sooner or later "I will...make you beg for...mercy...you punk..." I almost felt bad for her, but she asked for it.

"Are you sure you want to continue?" I asked, ignoring my sibling who kept telling me to finish her off "We can end it right here, right now if you want. You just have to promise me you will stop fighting."

"I won't ever...give up...I will keep fighting...until you are defeated..."

"Are you sure there's no other way?" I heard Frisk ask me from behind me; she was too close to the battle for my liking, but I believed Undyne had been weakened enough to not pose a threat anymore "Do you have a better idea?"

It took her a while to finally reach a conclusion, one that I could agree with, at least "Use your most powerful attack, one that would kill her for sure...but do not hit her with it. Make her think she lost and she will give up of her own." that suggestion was unlike anything she had ever told me before, but the seriousness in her eyes was as real as me. I did not want to hurt Undyne any more than I had to, so I decided to follow the human's plan "Fine by me, Frisk. Stand back, please."

I summoned all of my strength and shouted "You asked for it, Undyne! Tremble before my might, puny weakling: I will not hold back this time." a black flaming tornado appeared all around the fish-lady, engulfing her in a burning inferno of despair: I carefully directed the flames so that they would not hit her, but just close enough to let her think she was not going to survive. The whirlwind lasted a few seconds before disappearing, allowing me to see what had happened exactly.

The power of my attack had destroyed the rocks it touched and scorched the earth beneath it, but from the looks of it it had left the Royal Guard unscathed. The monster was laying on the floor, defeated, crying tears I did not expect her to shed.

"Why am I still alive?" she asked saddened and angry at the same time upon realizing I had not ended her life "Kill me now, you criminal! Why are you holding back?"

"Because I am not a criminal, you idiot!" I yelled at her, angry at her stupidity "Whoever told you that is a liar: we did nothing wrong! If I wanted to kill you or even harm you seriously, I would have done so before the battle even began!" venting off my frustration felt extremely satisfying, but she still had some doubts "I don't get it...how can you be so powerful if you're not a bad guy? Who...are you?"

"Why, has he not told you yet?" a familiar voice inquired from behind: the other human, Dante, appeared out of nowhere and revealed exactly what I desperately tried to keep a secret "His name is Asriel Dreemurr, Prince of monsterkind. How the Hell did you not notice it before?"

"T-The Prince?" Undyne was much more interested in my identity than by the fact another human had appeared before her very eyes out of thin air "You are Prince Asriel? Why did you not tell me sooner? We could've avoided fighting altogether!"

"Because I was trying to keep it a secret!" I yelled at the human in black, deeply disappointed with him "Why did you have to tell her? Are you dumb or something?"

"It was a secret?" he asked me, way calmer than he should have been "I thought everyone could tell: I saw a picture of your parents and they look exactly like you, after all. Are monsters really that dumb?"  
"You are the dumb one here!" I replied angrily "Thanks to you, now everyone in the Underground will know of my presence...do you have any idea how troublesome it will be for me to return to my place? Now everyone will want me to stay!"

As I kept thinking over and over how difficult it would have been for me to face up my people as their Prince, the captain of the Royal Guard got up and patted me on the shoulder "No worries, Prince: your secret is safe with me! I won't tell a Soul...well, maybe a few." exactly what I was worried about...but she reassured me "But apart from them, nobody will know your true identity! Trust me! Just...let me go get them: I'm sure seeing you will leave them breathless!" she ran away at the speed of light, but not before asking me to wait for her to return. She did not even question Dante's presence, which is unbelievable in and of itself.

"I am still going to make you pay for it." I warned him, who simply answered "I'll make sure to save up my money for it, then." he walked away and added, before disappearing "Now excuse me, I have a few things to do: got a kid to bring home and then...who knows? Maybe that flowery bitch will reappear somewhere else."

Silence ensued. Frisk looked at me, surprised and calm at the same time, almost as if she did and did not expect it as the same time. I needed to say something, but the words escaped my mind before they could be spelled.  
"Why didn't you tell me before?" she inquired "You knew you could trust me...right?"

I did not know what to say...I did not know how to tell her the truth...but, in the end, the words finally exited my mouth "I was scared. Scared of what you would have thought of me if you knew the truth. What would you have thought of me if you knew I was a Prince...what would you have thought of me if I told you I abandoned my family, my country, my people?" I waited a bit before asking her "What do you think of me now?"

"I think you're a wonderful person, Asriel." she replied almost instantly "I can tell from the tone of your voice you did things you regret...but we all make mistakes, don't we? But, ever since meeting you, you helped me so much...I wouldn't be here right now if it weren't for you. Prince or not, you're still my Asriel...you're still my goat-bro." not even Chara had something to say about that answer: they were just as speechless as I was.

"Yaya! Gote-bro very gud!" Temmie commented from atop the human's head.

Since I wanted Undyne to fulfill her end of the bargain, I decided to fulfill my own: I waited for her patiently with Frisk and Temmie by my side, who kept asking questions to make time pass fast "Since you're the Prince, does that mean you're rich? My dream is to one day drive a boat on a sea of golden coins!"

"Maybe my parents are, but I am as poor as you." I replied, chuckling at the human's question "Besides, is that really your dream? I am sorry if I am wrong, but...you seem like the type of person who would rather pursue glory and fame than sheer richness."

"I am, in fact...I want to be a singer when I grow up." she explained, smiling at my remark "I just wanted to tease you, that's all." the time we spent together, sitting on a rock, asking ourselves silly questions, was not wasted at all: in fact, it is one of the best memories of that journey I hold to this day.


	23. Waterfall (Part 7): Reunion

_My backpack weighed more and more with each item and possession I put into it, but what weighed more than anything else was my heart: I was not ready to do what I was about to do, but I needed to proceed with the plan anyway, despite my contrasting feelings._

 _I will be honest: things were not going as I hoped they would. Every single time I would get angry, sad, or simply lowered my guard for a reason or another, They would snatch away my body before I could stop them and lash out at everyone nearby, blinded and deafened by an inexplicable, uncontrollable rage...and I was growing weary of apologizing to everyone._

 _* **We should've never been born.** * somehow, Chara managed to make me even more sad * **Life is too complicated to be lived... too unfair to be understood.** * despite everything They had said, despite everything They had done, I still loved my sibling... I could not leave Them, and even if I could I would have never abandoned Them: They were a part of me just like I was a part of Them._

" _You are not making it any easier, though." I commented their last though, too tired to express any form of emotion while doing so._

 _* **Actually, I do believe I'm making it simpler.** * They eerily answered as They quieted once more. No sense in trying to force an explanation out of Them: innumerable tries always led to the same, futile results._

" _It is time." I told myself as I finished preparing and exited my room, aiming for the entrance door to the house: since I did not want to make my parents suffer any more than I already had, I had decided to leave them a note on the bed and leave while they were away; I knew that would have made them very sad, but there was no way around it._

 _Imagine my surprise, and my shock, when I saw my parents standing in the middle of the hallway, their eyes grim and teary as they watched me stop right before them "Are you seriously considering to leave?" my mother asked me, already knowing what I would have said next._

" _I have already considered it..." I replied "And I already decided as well. My days here with you are over: I have caused too many accidents and hurt too many people to do otherwise." every word I spoke hurt like a poison-soaked sword, both to me and my parents._

" _We do not, nor ever will judge you for anything you or your sibling have done, my son." my father consoled me "You are still our children, and we only want the best for you." the more that conversation lasted, the more it hurt..._

" _I love you too, and I want the best for you as well: that is why I will not listen." I proceeded past them, trying not to look at them in the eyes "I hope you will forgive me."_

" _We already did." they both replied at the same time "We do not have much to give you, Asriel...but I hope our love for you and Chara is enough." my mother added, on the verge of tears._

 _My arm moved against my will as I turned around and unleashed a short, but nevertheless dangerous, burst of fire against my own mother and father, who did not dodge, or did not want to avoid I presume, my sibling's umpteenth fit of rage " **That's it! Why can't you two idiots get it? We don't need your hypocritical "love"! It's because of you two that Asriel is suffering so much! I hate you! I HATE YOU!** " and just like that, without even waving farewell, I left the house in a flash, never looking back...driven by the will of a person, of a friend, I could no longer recognize...but, after all, I could not even recognize myself every time I looked at my own image in the mirror..._

* * *

It had been a while since we began waiting for Undyne's "friends" to come, and, although we did not lack ways to entertain ourselves, for some reason I started feeling a certain pressure on myself. It was certainly tied to Undyne's mysterious scheme, perhaps I was worried of _who_ , exactly, that fish-lady was going to introduce me to...what if said monster could not be trusted and revealed to the entire Underground my presence and location? If that were to happen, I would have had to leve Frisk and hastily return to the Ruins...but, I asked myself, would I have been able to do that?

A loud incoming noise interrupted my solitary thoughts and returned my focus to the environment around me: I soon identified the noise as that of someone running intensely...very intensely. Whoever was coming, they had to be coming from the main road, so I looked in that direction to spot them first...and, to be honest, I was not prepared to see what I did.

Three figures revealed themselves: one was that of Undyne, who was wearing a black shirt that didn't fully cover her belly and her arms, and a pair of brown leggings with cuts almost everywhere; the other two...I couldn't believe my eyes.

The Royal Guard Undyne was running at us full-speed, having changed into more comfortable clothes (a black sleeveless shirt, blue jeans and brown running shoes), despite carrying two people at once on her back...two people I both did not expect to see and did not expect could be carried by another monster...yet alone at once!

The woman wore a long purple tunic that covered her entire white-furred body; the Delta Rune, an emblem I had not seen ever since we left the ruins that morning, was painted on it...and for good reason. The woman's gaze echoed of intelligence and care, and the wind moved her floppy ears like they were flags; she wore an argent tiara decorated with shining sapphires between her short but well-polished horns.

The man, on the other hand, was wide and strong and, although visibly older than anyone present, seemed young enough thanks to his still blonde hair and short blonde beard. He wore a pink t-shirt and huge pants, but no crown like I expected him to. While the woman looked kindhearted and gentle, but also strong and fierce, the man seemed more relaxed and laid-back; still, something in his eyes inspired confidence and trust for some odd reason.

As soon as the two saw me, they jumped off Undyne's back and ran at me as fast as they could, their eyes already watering. I was not surprised by their sudden demeanor...after all, that is probably how I would have behaved were I to see my son after so much time; to be honest, I was on the verge of tears as well.

They stopped right before me and admired me like a rare painting in an expensive art galery "Asriel...is that you?" my mother hesitantly asked, almost as if she thought she was speaking to a ghost...and not a ghost monster, mind you.

"It's me." I simply answered as conflicting emotions ravaged war in my Soul.

"We missed you." my father said, trying to keep his composure despite the unbelievable and extraordinary circumstances.

"I did too." I finally admitted, both to them and to myself, as the positive feelings I felt got the upper hand on the negative ones.

"What are y'all waiting for?" Undyne rhetorically asked as she pushed my parents towards me with inhuman strength: I stopped them from tripping by hugging them tightly, but forgot to release them afterwards...maybe I missed them too much for their own good. They did not seem to care, though, as they returned the unspoken emotions as soon as they came into contact with me: if it were not for the sudden automatic reminder that Chara might have attempted to take advantage of that moment of weakness, I would have never let go that warm embrace.

That hug was followed soon after by an awkward silence that would have probably lasted a long time were it not for Frisk's timely intervention "So, are these your parents Asriel?" if I have to be completely frank, I had forgotten she even existed.

"Yes we are, my child." my mother instantly took a liking to the little girl and lowered herself to look at her in the eyes "My name is Toriel. What's your name, dear?" Frisk introduced herself before asking a few more questions that both my mother and my father eagerly answered: after all, they were still parents, so of course they knew how to talk to children...

However, they could not have possibly been prepared to talk with the little creature that suddenly fell into the human's hands "Hoi! I'm Temmie!" there she was again, ruining an otherwise touching moment with my parents "Tem iz on greit adventurz with gote-bro and hooman!" seriously, that little critter's presence was getting on my nerves rather fast...so I did something I should have done a long time ago: I snatched her from Frisk's hands and threw her like a rugby ball towards the cave my parents had just arrived from while shouting "This is a PRIVATE CONVERSATION!"

An instant later, the annoying Temmie flew away from our line of sight while screaming " To spaaaaaaceeeee!" or something like that...before I could let out a sigh of relief, though, and before anyone of the other people present could reprimand me for my actions, the monster suddenly reappeared atop Frisk's head, sad and disappointed "Tem did not go to space. Tem is sad. Space is gud." she was not being particularly serious, but her voice and almost good grammar made it seem otherwise...*Whatever.* I thought, *I am done trying to understand how she works.*

"Okaaaayy..." Frisk attempted to ignore the fact that the little monster that was sitting atop her had just teleported before her eyes "Anyway, since Asriel's a prince, does that mean you two are the king and queen?" thanks to the human's rapid question, the conversation resumed without any further interruptions...I half-expected Undyne to cut us off without being requested to, but instead she only listened to us and payed attention to our surroundings.

We spoke for about ten minutes about different subject, the most important of which being what happened to me in the last fifty years or so: I limited myself to only saying the strict necessary, as I believed they would have gotten even sadder if I told them some of the things I did...things I prefer not to mention, at least for now. As the conversation went on, Frisk's eyes began to water more and more before erupting into an uncontrolled cry of sadness; my parents did not know what to do, but thankfully enough I did "Please, do not cry..." I held the human close, so close I could hear her heartbeat, until she finally stopped sobbing "I-I'm sorry...b-but your p-parents...remind me of m-mom..." she finished to sob soon afterwards, much to my relief. She attempted to look as cheerful as she was before, but it was clear to me she was still very sad; I wondered, and still do to be honest, if she had done it with me before...if that was not the first time she had faked her emotions to make me stop worrying.

* **Why are you still chatting with** _ **them**_ **?** * the voice of my sibling echoed hollow in the darkest remnants of my psyche * **Don't you get it? Your parents are right here in front of you! Our job here is done! Leave the girl here and let's run away before they hurt us anymore than they already did...** * I could not understand how, exactly, were my parents hurting me...but They were right in the sense that I had fulfilled my duty towards Frisk: thanks to Undyne, I could have left Frisk with my parents and returned home before I thought I would have been able to...

But then, why did I feel so awful? Why was even the mere of thought of leaving Frisk so unbearable? Maybe Chara was right: I had grown too attached to her, far too attached. It was time I did what was right.

"Mom, Dad, there is something I need to discuss with you." everyone present turned their heads towards me, curious about what I was going to say "As you can imagine, I did not leave the Ruins to have a vacation...or to return home, for that matter: the sole reason why I left is so that I could entrust the human to your care. I did my part, but I cannot allow the human to live with me: until you find a way to break the barrier and return her to the Surface, she will have to-"

"No!" as I expected, I was not able to finish the phrase: the human had began crying once more, this time even more intensely than before "I won't let you! I'm tired of hearing the same things over and over again! Why can't you just let me come with you?"

"Please understand Frisk..." I tried to convince her, doubtful I would have changed her mind "We traveled a long way together, but I cannot accompany you any further: I was afraid you would not be able to reach the Royal Palace alone, but now you have my mother and father with you...I can rest peacefully knowing you will be happy with them." as I argued with the stubborn girl, I failed to notice that my parents were whispering something between themselves and their trusted guard...though Frisk would have been my top priority even if I did notice them.  
"Do you hate me, Asriel?" she asked me, more sad than angry "Is that why you're trying to ditch me?"

"Of course not!" I replied, almost offended by her sudden response "That is exactly why I am trying to make you leave: because I love you! I do not want my selfishness to ruin your life!"

"Excuse us for interrupting your heartfelt discussion, my son..." my father said as he, along with his wife and Undyne, retreated a few steps "...But duty is calling, and we have some rather...important business we need to attend to at the Royal Palace. We will welcome Frisk into our family, of course...but that will have to wait at least a few hours or so; in the meantime, why do you not accompany the human yourself?" I tried to argue against his sudden decision, but before I could stop him the captain of the Royal Guard hoisted both him and my mother on her shoulders and took off at the speed of light, clearly not fazed at all by the massive weight she was carrying "Goodbye, my son! See you in a while!" my father waved at me.

"Goodbye, my child! We love you!" my mother added as they left the dark tunnels of Waterfall.

* **Oh, for fuck's sake!** * that is only the first of many curses and blasphemies my sibling yelled after realizing what had just happened; I prefer not to list any of them, as I myself feel very ashamed of remembering them.

"Seems like your voyage isn't over yet." Frisk almost sang, glad of the way things turned out.  
"Oh yes it is!" I responded, annoyed and irritated "I refuse to walk even a step further! You will have to reach your destination alone!" before I could leave the area, the young girl taunted me "And what if I don't? What if I secretly follow you back home and sneak inside? Because that's what's gonna happen if you don't come with me _all the way_..." the human was more cunning than I could have ever imagined: in one simple move, she checkmated me...

"Fine! Come with me then: I want to make this as quick as possible..." I mumbled loudly as the girl cheerfully followed me close behind, the annoying critter still atop her head; the fastest I can get rid of them both, I told myself, the better...but a part of me was just as glad of that outcome as the human was.

* * *

I watched the entire scene, from start to finish...and, to be honest, I found it quite entertaining, especially how badly the goat faked his disappointment in his inability to abandon the girl...oh, and his parents looked cool too, I guess. If only I had had parents like those...my life would've surely turned out way differently than it did: I wouldn't be as intelligent or athletic, that's for sure...but, at the very least, I would be a little more human.

"Fuck you." I cursed Asriel for throwing away his parents like I knew he did: I didn't care why he did it, but it didn't matter to me...no reason or logic would've made more sense than the love his parents showed him in only ten fucking minutes.

"Hey kiddo." my headphones suddenly broadcast the short skeleton's voice.

"Hi." I simply answered "Any news?"

"Wow, that was cold, even for you." he replied, avoiding my question "Next time I want to make an ice pun, I'll use your name instead-"

"Any news?" I was definitely not in the mood for his dumb jokes.

The skeleton sighed before explaining what just happened to him "Look, I dunno what's happening, but...basically Undyne called my brother asking for help on something, and my brother asked me to help him "make a good impression" or something like that. I tried to convince him I was busy, which is kinda true...but Paps _really_ wants me there with him, so I guess I can't get away now."

"Let me guess: you won't be able to support me while you're helping your brother, right?" I asked as a smile appeared on my dull face.

"Bingo: you're on your own, kid. Good luck." I heard the noise of a chair moving and then nothing else: he was gone. And he wasn't returning any time soon...

"Fuck yeah!" I shouted as adrenaline began pumping into my veins, excited by what that seemingly meaningless course of events meant "Time for a more _direct_ approach..."


	24. Update

Greetings, Hex _finally_ here... after so much time I am genuinely surprised you are still here to read this big update.

First off, let me apologize for the millionth time for not having uploaded as I should have. Honestly, I promised you a regular schedule so many times I, first, should have stopped taking myself seriously... and yet here I am, feeling sorry for forfeiting my promise to you. I would like to say the reasons behind this absence are worth this update, but really, they are not: I should have paired this with an actual chapter, but that is no longer a possibility.

Truth be told, I no longer feel like re-writing this fanfiction. Do not get me wrong, I would like to finish this project from top to bottom like I once promised, but, for a number of reasons I will explain later, I no longer can. I cannot work both on this remake and my new project simultaneously, especially considering the _huge_ amounts of time and effort that go into the creation of that project. Moreover, the quality standards I set for this work are no longer as high as the ones I am currently used to: I now feel like this whole remake itself should be re-maked, and that I cannot do. What is most likely to happen is that I will publish a huge chunk of the old story (Hotland to the Core) without changing anything, then begin working on the final chapters (which I want to remake entirely and that are the sole reason I began this remake to begin with) when I finally have some time to spare, which will be... in a few months, at least. Until then, you will have to deal with the horrible **** I wrote one year ago. Sorry.

The reason why I have so little time to dedicate to this remake is because I began working on a full-fledged novel, available to the public for free (although there is a page for it for whoever wants to donate and get access to some premium content) called 'Project R.E.D.' (because my naming skills are worse than Asgore's...). This is a completely original work inspired by the old cartoons and videogames I watched and played as a kid, featuring a unique cast, a myriad of action sequences, mature themes (although it is kid-friendly and contains little swearing and no sexual content) and a whole lot of backstory to uncover and theorize about. It is, by far, the most complicated and ambitious project I have ever embarked on and, although right now it is not as popular as I originally envisioned it being, it's giving me quite a lot of satisfaction as an author and as a person.

So, assuming you are going to stick around to read the next of this story when it comes around, I believe you have three choices in front of you:

1)You simply read this fiction, then move over it. Nothing more, nothing else.

2)While you wait for the rest of this fiction, you read my other Undertale fiction, taking place in the same universe as this one (with some differences...) called 'Not all Villains are Evil'. It is somewhat better written, and might entertain you for a couple of days or so; the only problem is that reading that fiction means viewing spoilers for this one, so be advised. Here's the link in case you are interested: ( /works/6127207).

3)You try my new work, and hope it will be enough addicting for you to stick around... which probably will, at least from what I have seen so far. You might be scared by the tags and the insane amount of cringe the first chapters pack, but as long as you can survive those you will be fine for the rest of the trip. Here's the link in case you are interested: ( /works/8189848)

That is all I have to say, unless you would like me to explain some details you do not understand. I hope you had fun reading this fanfiction, and I also wish to see you again on some other work of mine. In the meantime, I bid you farewell.

-Hex


End file.
